What are you spending this weekend's nights reading?
Friday, June 29, 2012
TGIF/So Much Closer
What are you spending this weekend's nights reading?
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Skinny
From Goodreads:
Find your voice.
Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.
But there is another voice: Ever’s singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical—and partly to try and save her own life—Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.
With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.
Everygirl person can related to Ever, regardless of whether or not s/he has struggled with weight and/or body image issues. We all have a nagging, cruel and critical Skinny voice in our heads, although some of us do a better job of silencing or ignoring it. That's what makes this well-written, fast-paced issue book universal.
It's hard to spend a lot of time inside Ever's head, but light doses of humor help. Witnessing Ever's struggle to overcome her self-esteem and weight issues was heartbreaking, but that made her progress all the more powerful--especially when she realized that she had always been her worst critic.What a powerful message to teen girls; it reminded me of the famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
I'm not sure I'm wild about the cover--for a story so focused on the protagonist's appearance, I might have preferred a more abstract image instead of a model. However, the design does a fantastic job of depicting Ever's interiority--"Skinny," who is almost a character in her own right--and that is extremely hard to do!
Skinny will be published by Scholastic in October 2012.
Find your voice.
Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it. But there is another voice: Ever’s singing voice, which is beautiful but has been silenced by Skinny. Partly in the hopes of trying out for the school musical—and partly to try and save her own life—Ever decides to undergo a risky surgery that may help her lose weight and start over.
With the support of her best friend, Ever begins the uphill battle toward change. But demons, she finds, are not so easy to shake, not even as she sheds pounds. Because Skinny is still around. And Ever will have to confront that voice before she can truly find her own.
Every
It's hard to spend a lot of time inside Ever's head, but light doses of humor help. Witnessing Ever's struggle to overcome her self-esteem and weight issues was heartbreaking, but that made her progress all the more powerful--especially when she realized that she had always been her worst critic.What a powerful message to teen girls; it reminded me of the famous Eleanor Roosevelt quote, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."
I'm not sure I'm wild about the cover--for a story so focused on the protagonist's appearance, I might have preferred a more abstract image instead of a model. However, the design does a fantastic job of depicting Ever's interiority--"Skinny," who is almost a character in her own right--and that is extremely hard to do!
Skinny will be published by Scholastic in October 2012.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Recent Reading
I've been slacking in terms of talking about what I've been reading. Partly this is because I've been reading more slowly than usual lately--but that's what summer is for, right? Slowing down and embracing the lazy a little?
Anyway, here's what I've pulled from my shelves in the past month or so:
How Should a Person Be?: Here's a description from Goodreads:
A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium—a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum)
Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life.Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?
Being a (very) late twentysomething, I started reading this with a huge chip on my shoulder. I thought it sounded kind of . . . narcissistic. And it was, but to my surprise, I really enjoyed reading it. I don't think I identified with much of the narrator's specific experience; but I can relate to the twentysomething struggle to figure out identity and authenticity and, well, how you as a person should be.
Laura Rider's Masterpiece: I have a soft spot for fiction about writers and the creative process; call me meta. This was a deceptively light farce about a novice romance author who engineers an affair between her husband and her hero. The tone was a perfect blend of light and literary.
Audrey, Wait!: The voice, the voice, the voice! Audrey's smart, sarcastic, and extremely funny voice, along with her music obsession and the great supporting characters, made this a fun and fresh contemporary one of my recent YA faves.
What have you read lately?
Anyway, here's what I've pulled from my shelves in the past month or so:
 |
| (Goodreads) |
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer: I love unreliable narrators, so naturally I devoured Mara's story. How genius was it to set a creepy, psychological thriller in sunny Miami? Sidenote: Between this and Dexter, I have a feeling that my perspective on Miami is getting pretty skewed.
 |
| (Goodreads) |
How Should a Person Be?: Here's a description from Goodreads:
A raw, startling, genre-defying novel of friendship, sex, and love in the new millennium—a compulsive read that's like "spending a day with your new best friend" (Bookforum)
Reeling from a failed marriage, Sheila, a twentysomething playwright, finds herself unsure of how to live and create. When Margaux, a talented painter and free spirit, and Israel, a sexy and depraved artist, enter her life, Sheila hopes that through close—sometimes too close—observation of her new friend, her new lover, and herself, she might regain her footing in art and life.Using transcribed conversations, real emails, plus heavy doses of fiction, the brilliant and always innovative Sheila Heti crafts a work that is part literary novel, part self-help manual, and part bawdy confessional. It's a totally shameless and dynamic exploration into the way we live now, which breathes fresh wisdom into the eternal questions: What is the sincerest way to love? What kind of person should you be?
Being a (very) late twentysomething, I started reading this with a huge chip on my shoulder. I thought it sounded kind of . . . narcissistic. And it was, but to my surprise, I really enjoyed reading it. I don't think I identified with much of the narrator's specific experience; but I can relate to the twentysomething struggle to figure out identity and authenticity and, well, how you as a person should be.
 |
| (Goodreads) |
Laura Rider's Masterpiece: I have a soft spot for fiction about writers and the creative process; call me meta. This was a deceptively light farce about a novice romance author who engineers an affair between her husband and her hero. The tone was a perfect blend of light and literary.
 |
| (Goodreads) |
Audrey, Wait!: The voice, the voice, the voice! Audrey's smart, sarcastic, and extremely funny voice, along with her music obsession and the great supporting characters, made this a fun and fresh contemporary one of my recent YA faves.
What have you read lately?
Monday, June 25, 2012
Winners!
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| Shabby Blogs is the cutest. |
Thanks to all who entered my BEA Giveaway. Random.org picked the winners, and they are as follows--
False Memory ARC: Tiffany Drew!
Carnival of Souls ARC: Vidisha!
Insurgent Hardcover: Vivien!
Carnival of Souls ARC: Vidisha!
Insurgent Hardcover: Vivien!
I'll send out an email to the winners so I can pop your books in the mail ASAP. Look for another BEA swag-away in August!
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Recommendations Needed
A while back we established that I can fly comfortably with Bossypants in my hands (see here) but I don't think I can read only Bossypants for the approximately 27* total hours (throughout the trip) I will be in flight. Despite my Tina Fey fandom.
So, dear blog friends: it's time for recommendations! What books do you suggest I pack to take my mind off the fact that I am hurtling through air at 38,000 feet in a cylinder full of fuel? (Or what are your vacation reading suggestions in general)?
*Twenty-seven hours. What. The hell. Have I gotten myself into?
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Requiem for a Dumbphone
You served me well, Dumbphone. Even though you never held a charge. Even though your backplate constantly yearned to break free from the rest of the phone, rendering you unconscious (sometimes in the middle of a call). Even though you loved to butt-dial my sister and BFF Annabel. Even though your teeny tiny little QWERTY keypad made texting a grammatical nightmare.
You had some good features. CNET said your shape was reminiscent of a candy bar; that's probably why I liked you. Mmm, chocolate phones. You had a distorted little patch of mirror on the back for incredibly lo-res selfies, I guess. Your ringtones were unintentionally hilarious. Or maybe intentionally--I have no idea who designed you. I will miss the fact that I could drop, kick, or throw you without fear. I never, not once, worried about somebody stealing you on the subway.
Perhaps we will meet again--if my iPhone breaks or gets itself stolen, or if I am feeling nostalgic for a phone that is just a phone. Until then: thanks for the four years(!) of conversation. It's been real.
To all who preceeded me into the world of iPhones: which apps do I want? Help me figure out how to use this thing with suggestions in the comments, please!
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
BEA Bounty Giveaway
Like always, I was a book glutton at BEA. Which means, it's time to share. To kick off the summer reading season,* I'm giving away:
An ARC of False Memory:
Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn't at all surprised by Miranda's shocking ability.
Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn't easy--especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving. Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn't seem to matter...when there may not be a future.
Dan Krokos' debut is a tour-de-force of non-stop action that will leave readers begging for the next book in this bold and powerful new series.
An ARC of Carnival of Souls:
In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them.
While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls.
From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny.
And a copy of Insurgent:
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.
To enter, just leave a comment with your name -- and your email address, so I know how to find you.
Extra credit (please let me know in your comment if you qualify for any of these):
+1 New followers
+2 If you're already a follower
+1 Tweeting this giveaway
+2 New follower on Twitter (@rebeccabehrens)
+3 For posting about this giveaway on your blog.
+2 Add me to your blog roll
The contest will end on Friday, June 22nd at 11:59 pm Eastern time. I'll randomly select the winners from all the entries, and announce them on Monday, June 25th. I will ship one book internationally. Good luck!
*I'll be giving away more ARCs later in the summer!
Miranda wakes up alone on a park bench with no memory. In her panic, she releases a mysterious energy that incites pure terror in everyone around her. Except Peter, a boy who isn't at all surprised by Miranda's shocking ability.
Left with no choice but to trust this stranger, Miranda discovers she was trained to be a weapon and is part of an elite force of genetically-altered teens who possess flawless combat skills and powers strong enough to destroy a city. But adjusting to her old life isn't easy--especially with Noah, the boyfriend she can't remember loving. Then Miranda uncovers a dark truth that sets her team on the run. Suddenly her past doesn't seem to matter...when there may not be a future.
Dan Krokos' debut is a tour-de-force of non-stop action that will leave readers begging for the next book in this bold and powerful new series.
In a city of daimons, the Carnival of Souls hosts a deadly competition. Once in a generation, every citizen can fight to join the ruling elite. Without the competition, Aya and Kaleb would both face bleak futures—if for different reasons. For each of them, fighting to the death is the only way to try to live.
In our own world, Mallory knows that her father—and every other witch—fled the daimons’ city long ago. She trains to be lethal because it’s only a matter of time until the daimons catch up with them.
While Mallory possesses little knowledge of The City, every inhabitant of The City knows of her. There are plans there for Mallory, and soon she, too, will be drawn into the decadence that is the Carnival of Souls.
From Melissa Marr, bestselling author of the Wicked Lovely series, comes a brand-new tale of secrets, love, and the struggle to forge one’s own destiny.
One choice can transform you—or it can destroy you. But every choice has consequences, and as unrest surges in the factions all around her, Tris Prior must continue trying to save those she loves—and herself—while grappling with haunting questions of grief and forgiveness, identity and loyalty, politics and love.Tris's initiation day should have been marked by celebration and victory with her chosen faction; instead, the day ended with unspeakable horrors. War now looms as conflict between the factions and their ideologies grows. And in times of war, sides must be chosen, secrets will emerge, and choices will become even more irrevocable—and even more powerful. Transformed by her own decisions but also by haunting grief and guilt, radical new discoveries, and shifting relationships, Tris must fully embrace her Divergence, even if she does not know what she may lose by doing so.
New York Times bestselling author Veronica Roth's much-anticipated second book of the dystopian Divergent series is another intoxicating thrill ride of a story, rich with hallmark twists, heartbreaks, romance, and powerful insights about human nature.
To enter, just leave a comment with your name -- and your email address, so I know how to find you.
Extra credit (please let me know in your comment if you qualify for any of these):
+1 New followers
+2 If you're already a follower
+1 Tweeting this giveaway
+2 New follower on Twitter (@rebeccabehrens)
+3 For posting about this giveaway on your blog.
+2 Add me to your blog roll
The contest will end on Friday, June 22nd at 11:59 pm Eastern time. I'll randomly select the winners from all the entries, and announce them on Monday, June 25th. I will ship one book internationally. Good luck!
*I'll be giving away more ARCs later in the summer!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Summer Reading
How happy am I that it's the season for reading outdoors?
Extremely! Give me a book and a beach towel, picnic blanket, hammock, or just some soft grass and I'm in heaven.
Searching for some "summer reading" images, I stumbled upon this very cool illustration:
Love the books-as-ocean imagery; it makes me think of beach reading as surfing on storytelling waves. Now I feel a little less for staying lazy with a book in the sun when I'm at the beach. This illustration was commissioned for an article on summer reads, and the illustrator, Doug Salati, has a neat post on the evolution from conceptual rough sketches to final art.
It's cool to think of how all art--writing, drawing, sculpting, painting, acting, etc.--requires revision.
Anyway, this is my long-winded lead up to asking you: Where do you like to read in summer? Beach? Lake? Backyard?
Extremely! Give me a book and a beach towel, picnic blanket, hammock, or just some soft grass and I'm in heaven.
Searching for some "summer reading" images, I stumbled upon this very cool illustration:
 |
| Doug Salati (used with permission) |
Love the books-as-ocean imagery; it makes me think of beach reading as surfing on storytelling waves. Now I feel a little less for staying lazy with a book in the sun when I'm at the beach. This illustration was commissioned for an article on summer reads, and the illustrator, Doug Salati, has a neat post on the evolution from conceptual rough sketches to final art.
 |
| awesome rough sketch |
It's cool to think of how all art--writing, drawing, sculpting, painting, acting, etc.--requires revision.
Anyway, this is my long-winded lead up to asking you: Where do you like to read in summer? Beach? Lake? Backyard?
Friday, June 8, 2012
BEA: Middle Grade Panel
Thursday was my lucky day, and I got to pop by BEA to spend a couple hours on the floor. I timed it so I could check out a panel: "Writing Strong Female Characters In Middle Grade Books" with Lauren Oliver, Sharon Creech(!),* Judith Viorst, and Shannon Messenger.
Here are some highlights from the panel.**
Which comes first, the world or the character? How does a voice develop?
For Lauren Oliver, character and world develop simultaneously. Specific lines come to her first, which bring the character and worlds together; then she starts exploring it. "The character's journey is yours, too, as a writer."
Sharon Creech also finds that world and character develop simultaneously. She strives to stay true to what the character thinks, feels, and speaks. That helps define the world (and voice).
For Judith Viorst, voices lurk "in the location of her belly button." Writing her Lulu books was the first time that she went from telling a story to her grandkids to turning it into a book.
Shannon Messenger trusts the story: "It tells me where to go." Her character Sophie came to her before the world of the story did (Keeper of the Lost Cities).
Thoughts on writing middle grade (as opposed to other categories):
All of the authors spoke to the satisfaction of knowing that they are converting/creating readers with their MG books.
LO: Writing middle grade "is like slipping into a blanket." [I love that sentiment! I think for a lot of lifelong voracious readers, reading/writing middle grade feels like going home.]
SC: Middle grade is the age at which kids fall in love with, or into, books. It's also an age at which kids are becoming very mature and thoughtful. For a writer--it's fun to explore those contradictions.
When do you include older characters in a middle-grade story?
SC: She always feels compelled to have older characters and to incorporate what they are thinking.
LO: Sometimes she includes older characters; sometimes she simply has a "mechanism of older wisdom;" it depends on the book.
JV: Likes to include a lot of sibling rivalry.
SM: Is partial to the "cliche of the orphan," but her characters still have parental figures.
On unlikable characters:
JV: Loves the "hard likes"--characters the reader will eventually come to like, but it's not easy.
LO: Never felt nor internalized the pressure to be a good girl, so she likes complexity in her characters.
SC: Unlikable, or bad, characters are much more fun to write.
SM: Her "bad boy" character was the most fun to write. She notes that you have to push the reader to see why they should like those characters.
On their writing processes:
LO: The mystery is: what's this book about. She outlines to some extent, often after she writes 10K so the book starts living.
SC: Has a fluid process. She doesn't trust an outline [for first drafts] and has to go organically or it is too school-like. After the first draft, she sort-of outlines to look for holes.
JV: The discipline is getting in the chair. She makes herself sit down every day, idea or not.
SM: She makes word count goals, which are sometimes unrealistic. Prefers the "Connect the Dots" method of neither outlining nor pantsing.
*A favorite author from my own middle-grade years, so I was thrilled to see her. I heard Sharon Creech speak about Walk Two Moons and Absolutely Normal Chaos as a tween, and the writing advice she gave in that lecture continues to inspire me!
**Please do not treat as direct quotations as my note-taking was fast and furious.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
TAC 2012 Recap in Pictures
I can sum up Teen Author Carnival 2012 in one word: fantastic.
So fantastic, in fact, that while I was enjoying listening to all the wonderful authors speak, I neglected to take notes about the panels. Doh.
I did take some pictures, though:
I also got to meet up in person with some super-cool writer peeps, like Ghenet, Gina, and Elodie! And learned an important lesson about why it is finally time for me to get a smartphone (I still use a slide-out qwerty phone without internet): because I missed out on meeting quite a few other writer friends because I had no access to Twitter until I got home. Sad face. It's time, so I'll head to the Apple store this weekend, and into the 21st century!
Have you been to any BEA week events this week?
So fantastic, in fact, that while I was enjoying listening to all the wonderful authors speak, I neglected to take notes about the panels. Doh.
I did take some pictures, though:
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| The Keeping it Realistic panel |
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| Authors Lauren E. Morrill and Siobhan Vivian |
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| The Where Have You Been All My Life? panel |
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| Such a gorgeous library |
 | |
| More gorgeous library (through a door, hence the crappy photo) |
I also got to meet up in person with some super-cool writer peeps, like Ghenet, Gina, and Elodie! And learned an important lesson about why it is finally time for me to get a smartphone (I still use a slide-out qwerty phone without internet): because I missed out on meeting quite a few other writer friends because I had no access to Twitter until I got home. Sad face. It's time, so I'll head to the Apple store this weekend, and into the 21st century!
Have you been to any BEA week events this week?
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
Teen Author Carnival
In case you were living under a rock in Central Park, here's a friendly reminder that today is Teen Author Carnival 2012!
Information here: Teen Author Carnival 2012
Sidenote: It's held at the Jefferson Market Branch of the NYPL, one of the library's coolest locations.
Information here: Teen Author Carnival 2012
Sidenote: It's held at the Jefferson Market Branch of the NYPL, one of the library's coolest locations.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Time Spent Not Writing
Saturday night I stopped hailing a cab and set myself on a path heading east down Bleecker Street. It was mild and a little balmy, the moon was almost full, the sidewalk was crammed with the joyful-drunk 10 pm crowd.* I stopped and bought myself a gelato, half Olio de Oliva and half Caramello. It was fantastic; not just the gelato (which was really freaking incredible, and thanks to my Wisconsin upbringing I am an expert in all things frozen dairy), but the saunter back to the subway stop. I savored not just spoonfuls but the smells wafting from all the cafes and pizza shops, the noise of the bars and trattorias and honking cabs, the people-watching. For the first time in a while, I felt really present in the moment and in the place.
I wasn't thinking about my writing.
Or my job.
Or my wedding/travel plans.**
A rarity.
Remember my whole search for balance? Well, other than improving my cooking habits (which I totally am winning at with my new almost pizza-nacho free lifestyle), I have been pretty bad about balance lately. That's why a little me-time wandering downtown on Saturday night and soaking up the atmosphere felt so fresh. I forget sometimes how I need opportunities to recharge my creative batteries. It's an understatement to say that I love to write, and time at my desk is invigorating. But writing doesn't really fill the need to be out in the world. It's a basic truth that to write about life, it helps to experience it.
That spontaneous stroll was a reminder: that I need enough time spent like that, wandering, to fill me with sparks and words and emotions and experiences that I can fill pages with. Spending every minute trying to be productive doesn't actually help you produce great stuff.
So, writer friends: When's the last time you let yourself linger? Do you sometimes forget to live in the present moment, and step away from the page?
*Mom: It was a totally safe area for me to walk around at night. I swear.
**Hey, everybody who got that yeah, right look on her face way back when I said that I didn't expect making said plans to be stressful at ALL because we are having a tiny destination wedding: You are right. Stress and nuptials are utterly conjoined, no matter how hard you try to be low key about it.
I wasn't thinking about my writing.
Or my job.
Or my wedding/travel plans.**
A rarity.
Remember my whole search for balance? Well, other than improving my cooking habits (which I totally am winning at with my new almost pizza-nacho free lifestyle), I have been pretty bad about balance lately. That's why a little me-time wandering downtown on Saturday night and soaking up the atmosphere felt so fresh. I forget sometimes how I need opportunities to recharge my creative batteries. It's an understatement to say that I love to write, and time at my desk is invigorating. But writing doesn't really fill the need to be out in the world. It's a basic truth that to write about life, it helps to experience it.
That spontaneous stroll was a reminder: that I need enough time spent like that, wandering, to fill me with sparks and words and emotions and experiences that I can fill pages with. Spending every minute trying to be productive doesn't actually help you produce great stuff.
So, writer friends: When's the last time you let yourself linger? Do you sometimes forget to live in the present moment, and step away from the page?
*Mom: It was a totally safe area for me to walk around at night. I swear.
**Hey, everybody who got that yeah, right look on her face way back when I said that I didn't expect making said plans to be stressful at ALL because we are having a tiny destination wedding: You are right. Stress and nuptials are utterly conjoined, no matter how hard you try to be low key about it.
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