My FAVS of 2012

I know this is extremely late, but about a month behind seems like how I’ve been rolling lately—better late than never right?

I read 90 books in 2012—10 short of my goal, but still impressive. I was surprised how many books were just okay with only a few terrible ones. Here are 5 of my favorites. Add them to your TBR list.

CINDER—Best fairytale retelling I’ve ever read! Super creative with fabulous characters. This book is a great example of using more than one great high concept idea—Cyborg Cinderella in Asia, mixed with creepy invaders from the moon.

THE SCORPIO RACES—The writing in this book was AMAZING. Lyrical just like I like it.  It was so cool how Stiefvater mixed the macabre with the beautiful.

 THE NIGHT CIRCUS—This book was GORGEOUS! It’s a little bit of a slow moving story, but the fact that you want to stay in the world the author has created makes it worth it. The setting is just as much of a character (maybe more) then the actual characters. I seriously felt myself relax every time I opened it up. Fabulous writing!!! But if you are looking for plot you might be a bit thrown off.

FRIENDS AND FOES—I love Sarah Eden. She has such a talent for crafting believable and moving romances. I will read anything she writes.

SAVE THE CAT—AMAZING!!! Seriously, the best book on story structure I've ever read. Even though it is for screenwriters the principles really are universal for all storytellers. If you don’t own it, you should.

 Here are 5 other books that made my favorites list:

EDENBROOK – Julianne Donaldson

PALACE OF STONE – Shannon Hale

SHADOW AND BONE – Leigh Bardugo

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE – Jessica Day George

LEGEND – Marie Lu

Happy Reading in 2013

-Angie

Ghost Story

Halloween is coming up, and it’s my kids favorite holiday (not mine, mine is Christmas :). My 13 year old LOVES everything scary. He is trying to convince my hubby to take him to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. That is too scary for me, but I do love a good ghost…

So I want recommendations for good, clean (no language please), non-gory ghost stories. I’m tossing around the idea for a new MS and for some reason ghost keep creeping into my mind. So please hit me with your best recommendations.

-Angie 

I’m Hearing Voices—Character Blogfest

I’ve been blogging for seven months. I haven’t decided yet whether that feels long or short :) I’ve met so many great people and made unexpected friendships (Wow, this sounds like a eulogy—it’s not).

I thought it was about time I hosted a blogfest. Now, technically this was Cassie’s (Reading, Writing, and Lovin' It!) idea, so we are going to co-host.

Every great story has great characters! So this blogfest is designed to help us flex our character writing muscles through three separate blog posts.

The Posts:

February 6th - Monday: Characters on the couch: Have one of your characters answer the following questions (to make this work to your benefit, choose a character who is the hardest for you to write :) Max 250 words (Not including the questions—only the answers). 

1. What is your biggest vulnerability? Do others know this or is it a secret?
2. What do people believe about you that is false?
3. What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?
4. What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?
5. What do you want most? What will you do to get it? 

February 8th - Wednesday - Dialogue Introduction: Have two characters introduce each other using only dialogue—no backstory, no internalization, just dialogue between the two. Max 250 words.

February 10th - Friday - Emotion Flash Fiction: Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character. This will be a challenge in 250 words.

The Prizes: 

Cassie and I decided to pick two winners for each day:

Monday’s Prize’s—

• From me: The Color Code by Taylor Hartman—this book is a fantastic study of personality. It’s simple, easy to follow, and will give you tons of insight into how different personalities interact. I use it all the time. I don't normally like non-fiction, but this is one of my favorites. See description here.

• From Cassie:  Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.  You can check out the description from Goodreads here.  This book so far has been the only book to make me fall for both male leads.  The characters' flaws and their strengths kept pulling me in two different directions the entire way through.  

Wednesday’s Prize—

• From me: A query critique and first 20 page critique.
• From Cassie: A query critique and first 20 page critique. 

Friday’s Prize—

• From me: A full manuscript critique.
• From Cassie: A full manuscript critique.

How to enter:

1. Add your name to the link below
2. Follow Cassie
3. Follow Me—If we don’t already, we will follow you back J
4. Post about the blogfest sometime by January 30^th
5. You don’t have to, but we would love you to grab our button and add it to your side bar. 

There you go. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Come join the fun. It will be awesome!

-Angie

Why Storytelling is important

The Storyteller 

I’m sure you could take a college class or attend a lecture about this topic, and I’m not a teacher, but I’ve been thinking about this lately and I wanted to share my thoughts :)

Why storytelling is important (at least to me :)

Stories provide a safe way to confront personal demons. There is something so cathartic about a character fighting through the same thing you are. There is something about the outside looking in that makes the right thing to do easy to see. Personally, I like this fight to be abstract. I can’t begin to tell you how hard I cried thinking about two small hobbit battling against a power they logically couldn't beat.

Stories challenge our prejudices. We all have prejudices. They are built into our psyche as a way to keep us safe. I love reading books that begin with a character I’m not particularly fond of and then the author turns my world upside down and changes everything I know. I remember feeling this way after I read To Kill a Mockingbird.

Stories provide a needed escape. You can bury yourself in Angry Birds or worse more destructive kinds of escape, but reading is the perfect retreat. Not only do you get away, but you are working your mind and learning too. Now that is my kind of multitasking. This last year I read over 80 books and next year I’m setting a goal for 100. I need books—they are my oxygen.

Mark Twain said—“A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t.”

To that I say…AMEN!

-Angie

What do you think? Why important is storytelling to you?

Down Time

Okay, bear with me—that seems like a ominous way to start a post :) 

A few months ago I read a book called OUTLIERS by Malcom Gladwell. It is all about what makes people successful. It’s thought provoking—even if it is a little dry (non-fiction isn't my thing).

There's an entire chapter about the differences between the Chinese children’s school year as opposed to the American children’s school year. A little random background: the Chinese work in rice paddies year round, while American farmers let their fields rest in winter.

The American school year is built around the agricultural idea that just like fields need time to lie fallow, so do minds. Educators believed that children’s minds need a break. The Chinese do not believe this. Work, work, work.

The Chinese have higher academic scores than American’s.

Gladwell's conclusion: Down time is bad for the mind.

 

I can see Gladwell’s point, but I just want to say:  I get my best ideas I am doing mindless things; cleaning, waiting in the car, mowing the lawn, showering. I need down time. My mind needs down time. I do my best work in my down time.

Take that.

-Angie

100 YA Books

I found this list on Robin Weeks blog. It's a super easy blog chain. Look through this list of 100 YA Books and tell everyone which one’s you’ve read. I love this list because it gives me great ideas about what to read next.

If you want to join in leave a comment with your link so we can all check it out :) So which ones have you read?

-Angie

P.S. Ignore the blue highlighting. I'm not sure why it is there and I can't seem to fix it :) Also I'm not sure what is up with the weird spacing--Sorry.

Bold = I've Read It

Italics = I Own It

Underline = Started, didn't finish

In my “to be read” pile

1. Alex Finn – Beastly
2. Alice Sebold – The Lovely Bones
3. Ally Carter – Gallagher Girls (1, 2, 3, 4)
4. Ally Condie – Matched
5. Alyson Noel – The Immortals (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
6. Anastasia Hopcus – Shadow Hills
7. Angie Sage – Septimus Heap (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
8. Ann Brashares – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1, 2, 3, 4)
9. Anna Godbersen – Luxe (1, 2, 3, 4)
10. Anthony Horowitz – Alex Rider (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
11. Aprilynne Pike – Wings (1, 2, 3)
12. Becca Fitzpatrick – Hush, Hush (1, 2)
13. Brandon Mull – Fablehaven (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
14. Brian Selznick – The Invention of Hugo Cabret
15. Cassandra Clare – The Mortal Instruments (1, 2, 3, 4)

16. Carrie Jones – Need (1, 2, 3)
17. Carrie Ryan – The Forest of Hands and Teeth (1, 2, 3)

18. Christopher Paolini - Inheritance (1, 2, 3, 4)
19. Cinda Williams Chima – The Heir Chronicles (1, 2, 3)
20. Colleen Houck – Tigers Saga (1, 2)
21. Cornelia Funke – Inkheart (1, 2, 3)
22. Ellen Hopkins – Impulse
23. Eoin Colfer – Artemis Fowl (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
24. Faraaz Kazi – Truly, Madly, Deeply
25. Frank Beddor – The Looking Glass Wars (1, 2, 3)
26. Gabrielle Zevin – Elsewhere
27. Gail Carson Levine – Fairest
28. Holly Black – Tithe (1, 2, 3)
29. J.K. Rowling – Harry Potter (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
30. James Dashner – The Maze Runner (1, 2)

31. James Patterson – Maximum Ride (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
32. Jay Asher – Thirteen Reasons Why
33. Jeanne DuPrau – Books of Ember (1, 2, 3, 4)
34. Jeff Kinney – Diary of a Wimpy Kid (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
35. John Boyne – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
36. John Green – An Abundance of Katherines
37. John Green – Looking for Alaska
38. John Green – Paper Towns (I read an edited copy. The language was a bit intense for me.)
39. Jonathan Stroud – Bartimaeus (1, 2, 3, 4)
40. Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl – Caster Chronicles (1, 2)
41. Kelley Armstrong – Darkest Powers (1, 2, 3)
42. Kristin Cashore – The Seven Kingdoms (1, 2)
43. Lauren Kate – Fallen (1, 2, 3)
44. Lemony Snicket - Series of Unfortunate Events (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
45. Libba Bray – Gemma Doyle (1, 2, 3)
46. Lisa McMann – Dream Catcher (1, 2, 3)
47. Louise Rennison – Confessions of Georgia Nicolson (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
48. M.T. Anderson – Feed
49. Maggie Stiefvater – The Wolves of Mercy Falls (1, 2, 3)

50. Margaret Peterson Haddix – Shadow Children (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
51. Maria V. Snyder – Study (1, 2, 3)
52. Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
53. Markus Zusak – I am the Messenger
54. Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
55. Mary Ting – Crossroads
56. Maureen Johnson – Little Blue Envelope (1, 2)
57. Meg Cabot – All-American Girl (1, 2)
58. Meg Cabot – The Mediator (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
59. Meg Cabot – The Princess Diaries (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
60. Meg Rosoff – How I live now
61. Megan McCafferty – Jessica Darling (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
62. Megan Whalen Turner – The Queen’s Thief (1, 2, 3, 4)
63. Melina Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
64. Melissa de la Cruz – Blue Bloods (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
65. Melissa Marr – Wicked Lovely (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

66. Michael Grant – Gone (1, 2, 3, 4)
67. Nancy Farmer – The House of the Scorpion
68. Neal Shusterman – Unwind
69. Neil Gaiman – Coraline
70. Neil Gaiman – Stardust
71. Neil Gaiman – The Graveyard Book
72. P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast – House of Night (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 )
73. Philip Pullman – His Dark Materials (1, 2, 3)
74. Rachel Caine – The Morganville Vampires (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
75. Rachel Cohn & David Levithan – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist
76. Richelle Mead – Vampire Academy (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
77. Rick Riordan – Percy Jackson and the Olympians (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
78. Rom LcO’Feer – Somewhere carnal over 40 winks
79. S.L. Naeole – Grace (1, 2, 3, 4)
80. Sabrina Bryan & Julia DeVillers – Princess of Gossip
81. Sarah Dessen – Along for the Ride
82. Sarah Dessen – Lock and Key
83. Sarah Dessen – The Truth about Forever
84. Sara Shepard – Pretty Little Liars (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
85. Scott Westerfeld - Leviathan (1, 2)
86. Scott Westerfeld - Uglies (1, 2, 3)
87. Shannon Hale – Books of a Thousand Days
88. Shannon Hale – Princess Academy
89. Shannon Hale – The Books of Bayern (1, 2, 3, 4)
90. Sherman Alexie & Ellen Forney – The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
91. Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry (1, 2, 3)
92. Stephanie Meyer – The Host [This, of course, is not YA—not sure why it’s on the list]
93. Stephanie Meyer – Twilight Saga (1, 2, 3, 4)
94. Sue Monk Kidd – The Secret Life of Bees
95. Susan Beth Pfeffer – Last Survivors (1, 2, 3)
96. Suzanne Collins – Hunger Games (1, 2, 3)
97. Suzanne Collins – Underland Chronicles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
98. Terry Pratchett – Tiffany Aching (1, 2, 3, 4)
99. Tonya Hurley – Ghost Girl (1, 2, 3)
100. Wendelin Van Draanen – Flipped

More books for Kurious Kids

I wanted to be more involved in Abby Fowers' Kurious Kids-Fest than I got to be this week. All the usual suspects (kids) kept me away :)

I was thinking about it and there are a few more books that need a mention:

Great books for toddlers: Gossie, Gossie and Gertie, Ollie, Ollie the Stomper

Olivier Dunrea is GENIUS! Simple. Darling. Creative. I LOVE the ink and watercolor drawings. I don’t know how he draws an egg with personality—but he does it!

Just plain great: What Moms Can’t Do

This book starts out, “There are lots of things that regular people do, but moms can’t.” The book is a list of all the things moms can’t do. My favorite line of the book is, “Sometimes moms can’t hear themselves think (whatever that means).”

And to that I say…AMEN!

Are you a Book Snob?

When I visit someone’s house—I make a beeline for their book shelf. What’s there? What do they read? What do the books say about them?

What do your books say about you?

Are you a book snob? Do you line up your beautiful intellectual books for everyone to see, but hide your less seemly books under your bed? Come on tell the truth :)

I will admit I do have a few snobby books—Paradise Lost and The Divine Comedy to name a few—but I have every intention of reading them. I do—I really do :) My book shelf reads like a hodge-podge of styles, genres, authors. I’m an equal opportunity book lover and I display it for all to see.

I have a theory that most writers love books. They don’t display them for show. They read them. They share them. They love them! My sister calls me a Book Whore—so I guess I’m the opposite of a Book Snob.

What about you?

-Angie

I also DO NOT read in my garden dressed in pearls and taffeta. More like couch, pajamas, and chocolate.

Kurious Kid Fest

Abby Fowers is hosting such a fun blog-fest all about Children’s books (click here for more info :) So in honor of Abby’s blog-fest here are my favorite picture books:

From my childhood: Never Tease a Weasel

I loved this book when I was little. I begged my mom to read it over and over…and over! You can tell I was born in the late 70's from the illustrations. The original pictures are great. I can’t vouch for the new edition :)

“Never tease aweasel. See now I’ve said it twice. A weasel will not like it and teasing isn’tnice.”

As a parent of boys: Millie Waits for the Mail

I guess this really isn’t boy specific, but my boys love it. My favorite thing about this book is—the pictures. Who wouldn’t love a cow hiding in a bathtub to scare the mailman. Darling :)

As a parent of girls: Fancy Nancy

This book perfectly captures the personality of so many little girls—especially MINE! I can’t get enough of the “sublime” words and glitter :)

Great children’s books represent the best of literature—clever, concise, funny, moving, artistic. Read one with a kid you love today!

Literary Genres

I know that this has been floating around the internet for a few months, but my new blog friends may not have read this yet—so I must share.

At my writing conference I met the funniest author, Sara Eden. If you like historical romances check her out. She was the MC for the entire event. (Master of Ceremony not Main Character :)

The first day she did a video presentation about genres. She asked her 7 year old to define each one and recorded the answers. They were so funny I had to share them.

• Horror - "If the good guys are dying, especially if they are dying with lots of blood and scary stuff, that's horror."
• Fantasy - "Fantasy is the books with all the made up stuff, like animals that talk like people and people that look like animals and that stuff."
• Romance - "That one’s easy. If there is kissing it's romance, if there is more kissing than talking it's gross romance."
• Historical - "Historical means the people are really old and they live in really old places. Sometimes they talk funny. And they always wear old clothes."
• Children's/Middle Grade/Young Adult - "That one's tricky. You know it's a kids book if there's not a lot of dying or kissing or bad words. But the teenager books have dying and kissing and bad words, just not as much as grown-up books, but sometimes more...like if there are vampires. Vampires kiss a lot, even more than dying, but I don't know if they say bad words. I just read the kids' stuff."
• Mystery - "If you don't understand it, it's mystery."
• Science Fiction - "If a book isn't true, but it has science, that's science fiction. If a book has science and it is true, that's a school book and that's boring."

Is that not the most hilarious thing you have ever heard? I couldn't stop laughing. I read Sarah's new book in one night. I loved it. Check her out. www.sarahmeden.com