What Are You Reading?

Lately my book reading has jumped from fantasy fiction to Nora Roberts to I don't even know what. I used to think you could really tell what a person is like based on their book shelves ... I'm starting to rethink that theory. :o) Mine are chaotic and contain everything from YA to romance to thriller to political science to classic to "how-to" to deep and dark and everything in between. So, I'm not sure what that says about me, other than I should buy stock in publishing companies.

So, either I'm eclectic, or this is just how everyone is and we just don't talk about it.

What are you reading these days? You wouldn't believe how many books have been adopted into my world based on your suggestions. I may not get to them this month, but I buy them and stare at them longingly until I do.
 

Posted by: Mari Olson on 11/23/2009 at 12:22 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Impossible

“Impossible,” by Nancy Werlin, is a dark and twisted faerie tale based in modern times – my favorite kind.

Lucy Scarborough is 17 years old and raised by loving foster parents with the lucky coincidence of growing up next door to her best friend, Zach. What makes Lucy so different?

She’s cursed.

She comes from a long line of cursed women who must fulfill three impossible tasks in order to save themselves and break the curse. Up to now, no one has even come close – because, of course, the tasks are in the form of three riddles.

A whirlwind of emotion, terrible circumstances, difficult choices and a seriously jaded plot await. One girl, an ageless curse, three impossible tasks and a choice. Essentially the choices she makes, in the beginning and at the very end, will determine her battle strategy.

The story draws its inspiration from the folk song, “Scarborough Fair,” which is about a man presenting three tasks that the girl must perform in order to win him – and in this case, her freedom.

It’s an interesting concept set up in current circumstances and honestly, some parts are hard to read, but everything is approached with honesty, care and intelligence.

Lucy may be cursed, but she has something the other girls didn’t have – she has people who love her, people who will not give up.

The story is a two-nighter, nothing terribly deep, but still has a profound storyline. In the end, it really does touch on a few issues – sort of a “head fake” into teen problems and choices, but mostly it’s about a girl who must learn to depend on others and listen to herself. In the end, the only person who can save you is you – but that doesn’t mean the journey has to be a lonely one.

The best message of all is that no one should insist on going it alone as long as someone’s offering to help. Family and friends – the good kind – will see you through to the end. No curse can win out against that sort of blessing.

~Happy Reading! ~ Mari

Posted by: Mari Olson on 11/18/2009 at 11:41 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Learning to love Young Adult Literature

By Mari

A year ago I stumbled into this magical world of young-adult fantasy-fiction in a very unconventional way.

For starters, I’m 27 – so it’s not like this is my genre, and also, I started reading YA in order to mock it.

That’s right. I’m that guy – errr, girl.

All this began when I decided to read and mock the Twilight series – and then jumped on board the crazed Twilight bandwagon with all the rest of the obsessed yahoos. There’s irony for you. I am perfectly fine with this, by the way, because even though Twilight isn’t this masterful example of the Great American Novel, it’s still darn entertaining! All I ask is to be diverted from my mundane life and perhaps made a bit thoughtful – which doesn’t always mean fireworks and philosophy, sometimes it just means a good story.

When I was a kid – you couldn’t force me to read half the stuff out there supposedly written for my age group. My interest was so indifferent, my teacher tried to convince my parents I must be harboring a secret reading disability and if everyone would just cooperate they could help me through it – by holding me back a grade. Luckily, my parents didn’t buy it and refused to hold me back and just let their stubborn daughter work it out for herself. When I got a new teacher (who incidentally agreed with me and pitched the assignment readers and started me writing book reports from actual books – which I think at least some she paid for herself), reading became something entirely new to me. It became an escape, not a punishment; a refuge, not a prison.

I still didn't like a lot of what was considered popular YA stuff at the time, so much of it seemed to fall under the Sweet Valley High category or Goose Bumps (which aren't bad books but neither really interested me). I loved Louisa May Alcott and L.M. Montgomery, but they were "older" writers. Perhaps I didn't know where to look, perhaps there wasn't anything for me then, but I can tell you now that YA novels today are not the YA novels from 15-20 years ago.

It’s been a long road for me to this place where I’m not only attached, but drawn to books for the young at heart. Young adult literature today seems to try a little harder to relate to the human aspects of what a person’s going through in those crucial early years, and tries a heck of a lot harder to avoid talking down to the reader for having the misfortune for being young. Instead, YA embraces youth, celebrates it, and some books out there really do hit on personal struggles in an intelligent manner. The fantasy-fiction craziness of it all is what brought me in – the humanity hidden in the pages is what keeps me coming back.

Here are some amazingly well-written, but also action-packed stories that balance entertainment with intelligence:

“The Hunger Games,” by Suzanne Collins, and its sequel, “Catching Fire.” This is still my favorite YA novel for its intelligent, remarkably-well written, action/romance literary splendor. Can I go any further with adjectives and still make sense? I’m not that good. But she is. Both her books are amazing. They transcend age and literary preference – you do not have to enjoy fantasy to love these books and the characters within. I’ve read “Hunger Games” three times and still cry and cheer and have hooked three friends and my mother to her books – I’m awfully proud of that. The review for “Catching Fire” will follow soon, but I will just say that it’s an amazing sequel that doesn’t disappoint. I can’t believe I have to wait a year to find out what happens, but at least this time I went into it prepared. When I read “Hunger Games,” I had no idea it was going to be the first of a series – so I was pretty P.O.ed when I got to the end and there wasn’t one.

“The Host,” by Stephenie Meyer, which I think is her best work. The Twilight Series is a darn-entertaining series, which I loved, but “The Host” stepped it up a notch. It took a subject matter that I couldn’t care less about (alien life forms coming to Earth to take over – yawn, been done so many times) and made it fun, sympathetic and again, she brought in that humanity factor I’m so in love with.

Libba Bray’s Gemma Doyle trilogy was written for young girls, so it was not really exciting for an adult – the action and fantasy were well done and fun, but it didn’t call to me like some other authors. The reason I include it is because her books would definitely call to a younger reader – which is her audience – and I can’t discount her story-telling abilities just because I, as a 27-year-old, just wasn’t that enthralled. Her accounts for friend dynamics were spot-on. Her ability to describe conflicting personalities, weave a storyline together and use true intelligence to relay her hero was so well done. Bray’s talents are easy to see – in parts I thought she was “wasted” on kids, which contradicts what I’m saying here about how there’s something for everyone in YA. The ending to the third book broke something in me, but then days later I realized how brilliant it was. That’s some darn good storytelling, and honestly, that’s all I’m ever really judging. Otherwise – I really do read for the sheer pleasure of it, I promise! Just some books spark me to write about them, for better or worse. If I had been 10 years younger, these books probably would have touched me a bit deeper, especially when considering how well she describes the four girls’ personalities, how some people are plain self-centered, some are just truly warped and how some people never change. She also managed to make each person, no matter their flaws, sympathetic. I liked that. The contradictory nature of wanting to hate a bad person whom you start to understand a bit and then realize maybe they aren’t “evil” but just jaded. And you can’t hate jaded, but you don’t have to like it either.

“Graceling,” by Kristin Cashore, is a phenomenal coming-of-age book that’s perfectly balanced with wit and humor and non-stop action. It’s clearly geared for young women, but who cares? I used to have a review for it up, but I deleted it and now can’t find it. Someday I might tell you more again…when I read the next one, perhaps. I had so much fun with this story that I ordered the prequel “Fire” and have it on my kitchen table right now.

“The Obernewtyn Chronicles,” by Isobelle Carmody, are a tribute to one women’s OCD. And I mean that in a good way. There are eight books in all, the last two due out May 2010. I’ve read the first six and loved them deeply. They are complete. That’s the best word to describe them. They cover action, romance, friendship, betrayal, intrigue, imagination…I’m sure I’m leaving something out. They are so full of life and story that I became obsessed with them too. I think she started this series in the late ’80s, and so all I can say is that I’m glad she decided to finish them because I found them last March, ordered all six and then was left devastated when I realized it wasn’t finished! This is a series that may have been written intended for the young adult readership, but like “The Hunger Games,” it easily crosses that boundary. There are no situations in these books that clearly scream “teen issue crossing.” Just a fun story.
Cassandra Clare’s “Mortal Instruments” series, as previously written about, are just plain fantastic. I loved them and have read the series twice this year.

Melissa Marr’s Wicked Lovely series is also wonderful. It plays on perceptions and fun story-telling about the faerie world. She’s smart, she’s ballsy, and she doesn’t worry about offending anyone – but at the same time, there’s nothing offensive. She’s the kind of writer that others try to be, and generally fall short – she’s honest in a strange way, but without being shocking. Some day I’m going to have to sit down and commit a good hour to telling you all about her three books (and I believe there must be a fourth some day). Right now, all I can say is that these were books that I would gladly buy again if I lost my copies because I want them around.

“The Forrest of Hands and Teeth,” by Carrie Ryan. There is a reason I’ve blogged so much about this book. It’s beautifully dark and smoothly written. I became obsessed with this book, reading it twice and then passing it around to anyone who would take it. Read my blog – because otherwise I’ll just go on and on.

Posted by: Mari Olson on 10/15/2009 at 5:30 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Mortal Instruments: A Supernatural Series that will Convert the Non-believer

This will be the shortest blog ever on one of the best series I’ve read thus far.

The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare is not only action-packed, witty, supernatural fun – but well written, well constructed and doesn’t talk down to the readers just for being teenagers.

I’m not criticizing the genre folks, because I love YA lit, I’m complimenting a chick who does her job well.

“City of Bones,” “City of Ash” and “City of Glass” are the three books in this series. Through each we follow Clary, Jace, Simon, Alec and Isabelle and a plethora of evil things that go bump in the night. Clary and Simon are mundanes (the slang for humans) pulled into an ageless battle between good and evil – almost literally Heaven and Hell – with the Shadowhunters as the key forces of good. Cassandra Clare spins mythology with Biblical references and all sorts of supernatural lore to create a world within our own, teeming with creatures, good and evil, trying to coexist, conquer and conserve – all while displaying the best and worst humanity has to offer. If you have ever doubted the enticing qualities of fiction and fantasy, then this series will prove to have supernatural powers over you as well.

The first book introduces you to the collective coupling of friends. You have Clary and Simon – friends their whole lives, would die for one another, can read each other’s minds and truly love one another for who and what they are – no matter what. Those are hard qualities to find. Then comes Alec and Jace – best friends raised as brothers whose relationship mirrors that of Clary and Simon’s. Isabelle is sorta the odd girl out, and yet she pulls them all together. She’s the tough chick with the smart mouth, but she loves who she loves with everything’s she’s got. These characters are so easy to care about and one of the best and worst parts of the book is how connected you feel to them. Their hurts are your hurts.

One of the best parts of the first book is that it isn’t written as a “setup” for the series. It’s written as a book – a book that can’t stand on its own any better than one of the LOR trilogy, but it has a solid storyline and wonderful characters to carry its own weight as Clary discovers who she and what her part is in a world of the impossible coming to life. I don’t know what’s more fun to watch – the never ending action sequences or the relationships unfolding as each person is tested, triumphs or fails, and grows.

The second book propels the story forward with new adventures but the same idea and storyline carried through. This book has more “romantic” anxiety, and if you’ve read book one you’re wondering if this could possibly fix itself. I will leave you with this – trust the author, she has a plan.

The best part of “City of Glass” is that it was so obviously the product of a well-thought-out plan. Clare (the writer, not to be confused with Clary, the protagonist) either had a plan of attack set out in such organized chaos as J.K. Rowling, or she just has an impressively fluid imagination, because it all came full circle and into perfect sense without feeling contrived.

I loved, loved, loved this series and have read it twice and actually gotten a few other people hooked, as well.I read these books and think to myself, “God, if only I could write like that.”

She entertains while still forcing you to use your noggin and perhaps, your heartstrings. It’s a great story for young adults, but I and my “grownup” friends think it’s pretty keen, too.
 

Posted by: Mari Olson on 9/22/2009 at 5:15 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

A series problem

Sometimes my eyes cross and I begin to sweat a little when I realize just how many series in which I’m currently involved. And yes, “involved” is the only word appropriate because much like a sordid love affair — these books have taken over my life, made me question my priorities and left me seriously wanting.

Oh, yes, I’m talking about none-other than a true series problem.

I keep picking up random books, getting into them and then realizing they are part of a series that is not entirely done. Books should come with warning labels, “Book 1 of series, additional books due out: [give dates].” I generally try, at all cost, to avoid this potentially hazardous infringement to my sanity. Look at me — I’m already getting all wordy.

I waited until the last “Twilight” book was out before I read them, the last “Mortal Instruments” book was on the shelves before I dove into that blissfully fun world. I still haven’t read Harry Potter because I was waiting for all of them to come out and now I’m just waiting for the ambition to start them.

Right now, I’m currently involved in nine on-going series (is that the plural for series? Seriesi, serieses, oh boy, I seriously need a drink…of Diet Pepsi, because you know, this is a family-friendly site).

My point is…this is a long list of story lines to keep up with. One of these days I’ll blog about them, too. I loved the “Wicked Lovely” series, by the way. I was not impressed by Blue Bloods or The Immortals (not to be confused with The Mortal Instruments, which I loved), but the latter isn’t nearly as annoying as the former. Blue Bloods has such a cool aspect to it! Until the name-dropping and product placement makes your eyes cross.

Back to point, I love stories, and sometimes I get a little obsessed about finishing them—up until 3 a.m. and that sort of thing—but my main problem is patience. I don’t have any. God did not see fit to grant me with an iota of that stuff so here I am impatiently waiting for all these books to come out—only to be back in this position next year when I find out that nope—the stories are still going.

Whatever happened to just writing a book and being done with it? Dickens didn’t feel the need to capitalize on a series. There is no “Tale of a Third City” or “Oliver Twist’s Adventures in the Country.” I wonder, sometimes, if this is a genre thing. It appears that romance novels and fantasy fiction are the most apt to have a series because people get obsessed with the worlds that are created, and probably, the authors, too. This makes sense. I can’t blame them. I love living in the Seven Kingdoms and Faerie land and Middle Earth.

Though the waiting bit is enough to drive a booklover insane.

A friend of mine just sent me the first draft of her first 19 chapters of a post-apocalyptic fantasy tale that could easily be made into a series. I’ve threatened her life if she ends it like “Hunger Games” with action-action-action …. “end of book one.” I mean, that just about killed me. At least give me a real ending like “Graceling” or the first Wicked Lovely book. If I like your writing, I’ll keep buying your books, but I’d rather no year-long cliff hangers. This ain’t an after-school teen drama put on hold for the summer, books take years to complete! Trust me, I’m sick enough to still go out and read the rest of your books, even if I don’t love them. Just don’t end the dang thing with seriously unresolved issues or “end of book one.”

My nerves can’t take it.
On to my Pepsi.

Posted by: Mari Olson on 8/18/2009 at 5:35 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink