Book Wars 5

It's time for Book Wars. The entirely positive epic battle to be picked as my favorite read this week.

Hold me closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

The most interesting thing about this book is the way McBride handled her narrative. The chapters switch from first person to third limited but I didn't even realize she was switching between the two until about halfway through the novel and it struck me. The main characters voice is first and the glimpses into others are in third. It was amazingly well done - you feel close to the MC but get to see/hear more as well. I don't think there are many authors who can pull this off but when they do...it works.

VS.

The Ant and the Elephant by Vince Poscente

I loved the message in this book: all about the power of your subconscious mind.

VS.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I have to credit McCarthy for conveying the psychological realities of a post-apocalyptic world. It was bleak and hopeless and, I suppose, that makes it the most realistic dystopian I've ever read.

VS.

Tender is the night by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Scattered throughout this book are some very interesting passages that made me stop and think about people or things in my life and why I saw them the way I did.

This Weeks Winner

This week is a little different. I have two winners. Not necessarily because I couldn't decide between the two but because they are so different that I find choosing between them to be unfair.

If you're looking for a fun, easy and interesting read I'd definitely recommend Hold me closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride. Maybe it's just me but the fact that the main character worked at a fast food joint made me relate to him in a way I've never related to another character. (Yes, I used to work at McDonalds - in case you were going to ask.)

If you're interested in reading a book written as a fable and actually teaches you about the power of your subconscious (and, consequently, yourself) then I'd say The Ant and the Elephant by Vince Poscente is a must read. It was interesting and fascinating. (Also, I tested the techniques this book illustrates to get what you want/achieve goals and it totally works! I promise!)

What have you been reading this week?

Survive Canadian Winters

In order to survive Canadian winters, there are a few general guidelines you must always follow.**

Don't stand under trees unless you're willing to risk big snow lumps falling on your head.

Be careful of frozen bodies of water. They may, like the river below, not be frozen but just full of slush (they are trying to lull you into a false sense of security. Their favorite past-time is giving people hypothermia, I'm sure of it).

 Under no circumstances should you stand still for too long. If you do, you'll look a lot like Grandpa.

If you want to stay warm, you have to build an igloo. Don't worry, our igloos are high-tech: we've got electricity so you won't miss any of your favorite shows.

**The advice here is an exaggeration. It's not that bad. Usually. 

How do you survive your climate? 

If I could turn back time

Here I am, almost a month into this school semester and I'm already drowning, sinking underneath the weight of my homework.

Here I am, desperately wanting to start edits on Book 1.

Here I am, needing to get Book 2 out of my head and into the real world.

Here I am, wishing I could hang out with my friends and not feel like I'm wasting time I don't have.


Here I am, sitting on my bed, staring at the clothes strewn across my room (that need to be washed) and the floor (that needs to be vacuumed).

Here I am, holding my official Time Turner prop that my mom bought for me one Christmas...........

And all I can do, is wish that it was real.

What are you wishing you had time for?

Book Wars 4

It's time for another Book Wars!

(Click on the book titles to be redirected to their goodreads page so you can get an actual synopsis.)

Fearscape by Simon Holt
Third book in The Devouring series

The overarching theme for all three books is finally verbalized at the end of this book and it validated the MC's (Reggie) journey for me. Here's the two lines that say it all, "But for all the horrors Reggie had seen, she had also witnessed the wonder of the human spirit fighting back. It wasn't about eradicating fear; it was about overcoming it." To me, this was a really powerful message.

VS.

Fire In The Blood by Irene Nemirovsky

This book is set in rural France several decades ago (not sure of the exact date) and I loved the way she highlighted the community, the way they both operated as a collective and as individuals and the way they kept family matters family matters (even though everyone else knew about it!). It was a very interesting and revealing look into rural existence in France after the war (first - I think).

VS.

Personal Demons by Lisa Desrochers

So, unless you haven't been reading any of the new fiction books in the last couple of years, you know that love triangles are in (even when we say they're going out). But, I have never read a book where I ever had a doubt about who I wanted the main character to be with. I always know within the first third who I want to win (even though half the time they don't). That is, until I read this book. I actually couldn't decide. I wanted her to choose both of them (but then I don't want them all to be together or anything like that). My point is, the best thing about this book is that the love triangle actually felt like a real love triangle, each guy brought something different and valuable to the table and I understood why Frannie was conflicted because so was I.

VS.

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

I really liked the beginning of this book, it started out with a bang and went right into the action - basically, straight to the point with no unnecessary set up.

This Week's Winner

So, this week, I have to go with Personal Demons. The main character was strong but still feminine and relateable . Also, as I said before, I was really impressed with how the author handled the romantic aspects of the story - it was very well done. I'm excited for the next book in this series.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What did you read this week?

Can you answer this?

Today I'm going to ask you a couple questions (that are supposedly unanswerable) and I want you to give me your wackiest or most logical (your choice) answers in the comments (because you're writers or creatively inclined people and you want to make stuff up for a living). 

If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?

If you choke a smurf, what color does it turn?

When you're sitting on the upstairs floor are you sitting on the downstairs ceiling?

Why is it that murder always seems to liven a novel?

I hope your weekend is as awesome as my cat is cute!

Ambiguity

Picture this: you're reading a novel and are about halfway through, there's several characters talking and one of them references an event that - while not overtly important - happened during the time frame of the novel itself. The characters elaborate enough so you aren't sitting there scratching your head but they don't truly explain/show what happened.

What do you think? How do you feel?

I was talking to a friend the other day and we had a pretty in-depth discussion on ambiguity. It ended with me finally sorting out my emotions and thoughts on the matter. 

In short: I think it's a good thing.

My reasoning is this: if we are aware, as readers, that events are happening outside the scope of the novel that we're seeing it manipulates our subconscious impressions of these characters. How, you ask? We're being shown that we aren't necessary for these characters to exist. Their existence doesn't depend upon us reading the novel. They are more than what we see. 

This, in turn, makes them more real.

(As an aside: way too much ambiguity is bad! Just like anything else in writing, it's a fine line between an author doing this well and completely butchering it.)

How do you feel about ambiguity? Any other tricks you can think of to manipulate* your readers?

*Don't even pretend you don't want to manipulate your readers. You do. You want them to care about your characters. 

Book Wars 3

It's time for the entirely positive war between inanimate objects (books) that are shuffled around in my mind, words flying everywhere, until, I - the supreme ruler (of my mind) - decide who wins!

(Click on the book titles to be redirected to their goodreads page and get a synopsis.)

Entice by Carrie Jones
Third book in the Need Series

I really like all the foklore and mythology Carrie Jones integrates into her series and this book does that the best out of the three.

VS.

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff

The descriptions in this novel brought the setting, characters and world to life. They were gritty and real and I could almost taste/touch/smell it all. For something so infused with fantasy and foklore it seemed very believable and I think the descriptions had a lot to do with that.

VS.

The Devouring by Simon Holt
The first book in The Devouring series

I started reading this before bed and couldn't put it down because if I did, I wouldn't know how the conflict was resolved, and if that was true then I wouldn't know how to beat the Vours (the villainous creatures who devour human souls and steal their bodies). Holt created creatures that fed on people's fears and my overactive imagination started feeding my conscious all of my fears until I was, quite honestly, scared to turn out my light (The Vours come when the night eats light). I believed in this book. (Until the next day when I realized that was just madness.)

Soulstice by Simon Holt
The second book in The Devouring series

The fears in the first book were physical things - clowns, spiders, water, etc - but in this installment we deal with fears like desolation, being afraid of your self and guilt and this intangible fears are far more horrifying. This book doesn't skip on horror at all, so if that's what you're looking for...

Winner This Week:

This week I have to go with The Replacement. The main character Mackie was strange and interesting and the world was dark and dreary but not hopeless. The entire story revolves around foklore but the fantasy is believable because the descriptions make it all seem real. Days after I finished, I was still thinking about the town of Gentry. That is a mark of a good book (especially when you've read two after it and still can't stop thinking about it).

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What did you read this week?