Preach, YA authors, Preach.

Some inspiration for big thoughts on your Friday. The Problem is Not the Books, Saundra Mitchell, shared by John Green - enjoy the weekend! 

"The problem that needs to be fixed is not kick all the girls out of YA, it’s teach boys that stories featuring female protagonists or written by female authors also apply to them. Boys fall in love. Boys want to be important. Boys have hopes and fears and dreams and ambitions. What boys also have is a sexist society in which they are belittled for “liking girl stuff.” Male is neutral, female is specific.

I heard someone mention that Sarah Rees Brennan’s THE DEMON’S LEXICON would be great for boys, but they’d never read it with that cover. Friends, then the problem is NOT with the book. It’s with the society that’s raising that boy. It’s with the community who inculcated that boy with the idea that he can’t read a book with an attractive guy on the cover.

Here’s how we solve the OMG SO MANY GIRLS IN YA problem: quit treating women like secondary appendages. Quit treating women’s art like it’s a niche, novelty creation only for girls. Quit teaching boys to fear the feminine, quit insisting that it’s a hardship for men to have to relate to anything that doesn’t specifically cater to them.

Because if I can watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and want to grow up to be an archaeologist, there’s no reason at all that a boy shouldn’t be able to read THE DEMON’S LEXICON with its cover on. My friends, sexism doesn’t just hurt women, and our young men’s abysmal rate of attraction to literacy is the proof of it.

If you want to fix the male literary crisis, here’s your solution: Become a feminist."

 Via John Green
The Problem is Not the Books, Saundra Mitchell (via silverstags) 
(via lez-brarian)
(via hollyblack)
Source: becketted 

Reading Updates: Revisiting Old Favorites

              

Long time, no book blogging! I am have sadly too busy too read fiction or write reviews these last two months. In the meantime I learned this: finishing your PhD is A LOT OF WORK.  (I guess I should have seen that one coming.) Lately all I have had time for is a couple hours revisiting old books. I don't have the time to get involved in a new story, but stopping off in an old one has been a nice relief! Anyone else out there ever do this?

This week I read some of The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman.  (Oh man, the feels at the end of this book. Sniff sniff)!!

I also read part of Pegasus in Flight and Pegasus in Space.  Which reminded me --Anne McCaffrey is just the best. I didn't know what I needed was a good dose of Sc Fi but it was gggrrrreeaaat.  I hope to get back to new books and more fun reading soon! 

Review: Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

I was VERY excited to read this, and MAN it was incredible!

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.

An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.

I LOVED THIS BOOK.  It was so unique, so well written and it just grabbed you. I have never read anything of Sedgwick before but he is now on my radar:

Originality: 9.  I am a hater of short stories, but love  a good companion novel- this book combines there two elements into 7 stories which move backwards in time revealing more and more as we travel backwards.  Intrigue abounds.

Absurdity: 2.  Read that first sentence again in the book description: An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking", a little absurd, yes, but the way the author writes the stories they flow together in a way I never could have imagined!

Level of Paranormal Romance: 8.  This is a story about love across time and form.  

Level of Harry Potter-ness.  10.  This was a fabulous short book. compelling, different, and just plain great.  As NP so nicely put it:

Seven intense story lines stretch from the near future to the distant past, together forming a labyrinthine story of love, sacrifice and blood. Over and over again, a cast of vampires, Vikings and high priests encounter one another in various forms — with dire consequences for both their past and future incarnations. via

This book highly deserves the Printz honor and I hope that you all go out there and enjoy a copy yourself!

Review Redux: Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Grad Student review this A YEAR AGO.  Bitterblue is the third book in the Graceling Series, following Graceling and Fire. Slow to the plate over here:

Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart (GoodReads)

See Grad Student's full review here,   and our previous reviews of Book 1, Graceling here, and here.  We also loved Book 2,Fire, reviewed here.  Are you sensing the theme?

My Review Redux:  This book is great! It has all the classic elements of a fantasy story without (too many) eye rolls or ridiculously complex and twisted plots. I loved the characters, especially Po and Kasta,  and Saf, the complexity and how the story carried over from Graceling and Fire.

This series is a real gem, if you too haven't read it yet, what ARE you waiting for!?  Slow claps to Cashore for a very compelling series.

Top Ten Tuesday: Feb 25th- REWIND: Top Ten Books That Will Make You Swoon

On this TTT rewind, we are jumping back to the Top Ten Books That Will Make You Swoon from February 4th.  [NOTE MINI DIVERGENT SPOILER AHEAD.  You have been warned.]


1. Perchance to Dream.  Ariel, Swoonmaster! Team Ariel over here, as well documented.

via

2. Divergent Series- The love and loss was just so so sad.  I believe the whole internet agrees.

3. Will and Jem from the Infernal Devices series.  Just hunky hunks doing their thing and killing bad guys.

4. Archer from Fire

5. Gale, especially from the movie cause he is just undeniably a hunk.


6.  The Raven Boys- ALL OF THEM, in their own ways. 

Cheers to the Broke and Bookish for hosting as always!  What's on your list?

Review: The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susan Cokal

The Kingdom of Little Wounds was a 2013 runner Printz Award honors recipient and I was excited to get a copy.

A young seamstress and a royal nursemaid find themselves at the center of an epic power struggle in this stunning young-adult debut.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.

Can we just say, this is BORDERLINE YA.  I am going to say not YA at all, like maybe not for middle schoolers, or even high schoolers??  Mildly disturbing, violence against women, and general grossness of historical fiction.

Originality: 9.  Super unique setting, story telling characters, and never-ending twists of power in a historical kingdom.    Even the format of the book was unique, with section page designs, red page edges, and fairy tale interludes.

Absurdity: 10.  Really nutty over all.  Kinda like Survivor meets Historical Fiction in a race for power.  Am I making it clear how crazy I thought this book was?

Level of Paranormal Romance:  NA.   There is very little love, or even friendship in this story.  Poor Ava, it is just not going to happen, life is hard.

Level of Harry-Potterness: 7.  Overall, this book was just DIFFERENT.  I cant say that I liked the characters, or the story, but I COULD NOT STOP.  At times grossed out, but still unable to put it down and compelled to finish.  I guess that is one way to identify a good story, eh?    

If you are looking for a detailed, compelling story that is gothic and dark, go for it.  You will not be dissapointed.

Waiting on Wednesday: Into the Still Blue (Under the Never Sky #3) by Veronica Rossi

Ooo, here it comes!! The final story by Rossi in the Under the Never Sky trilogy:

Their love and their leadership have been tested. Now it's time for Perry and Aria to unite the Dwellers and the Outsiders in one last desperate attempt to bring balance to their world.

The race to the Still Blue has reached a stalemate. Aria and Perry are determined to find this last safe-haven from the Aether storms before Sable and Hess do-and they are just as determined to stay together.

Meanwhile, time is running out to rescue Cinder, who was abducted by Hess and Sable for his unique abilities. And when Roar returns to camp, he is so furious with Perry that he won't even look at him, and Perry begins to feel like they have already lost.

Out of options, Perry and Aria assemble a team to mount an impossible rescue mission-because Cinder isn't just the key to unlocking the Still Blue and their only hope for survival, he's also their friend. And in a dying world, the bonds between people are what matter most.

In this final book in her stunning Under the Never Sky trilogy, Veronica Rossi raises the stakes to their absolute limit and brings her epic love story to an unforgettable close.

This came out in January... anyone grab it yet!? LET US KNOW!

A cheers of our whiskey sour to Breaking the Spine for Hosting WoW, dedicated to upcoming releases we can't wait to read. What are you waiting on?

Stacking the Shelves: the best of YA

Stacking the Shelves... a day late....This is my first Stacking the Shelves! Gasp!  But too good to hold back on the 2014 Printz Award winners: "The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature."

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick (2014 Prinz Winner)

Seven stories of passion and love separated by centuries but mysteriously intertwined—this is a tale of horror and beauty, tenderness and sacrifice.

An archaeologist who unearths a mysterious artifact, an airman who finds himself far from home, a painter, a ghost, a vampire, and a Viking: the seven stories in this compelling novel all take place on the remote Scandinavian island of Blessed where a curiously powerful plant that resembles a dragon grows. What binds these stories together? What secrets lurk beneath the surface of this idyllic countryside? And what might be powerful enough to break the cycle of midwinterblood? From award-winning author Marcus Sedgwick comes a book about passion and preservation and ultimately an exploration of the bounds of love.


The Kingdom of Little Wounds by Susann Cokal (2014 Printz Honors) 
A young seamstress and a royal nursemaid find themselves at the center of an epic power struggle in this stunning young-adult debut.

On the eve of Princess Sophia’s wedding, the Scandinavian city of Skyggehavn prepares to fete the occasion with a sumptuous display of riches: brocade and satin and jewels, feasts of sugar fruit and sweet spiced wine. Yet beneath the veneer of celebration, a shiver of darkness creeps through the palace halls. A mysterious illness plagues the royal family, threatening the lives of the throne’s heirs, and a courtier’s wolfish hunger for the king’s favors sets a devious plot in motion.

Here in the palace at Skyggehavn, things are seldom as they seem — and when a single errant prick of a needle sets off a series of events that will alter the course of history, the fates of seamstress Ava Bingen and mute nursemaid Midi Sorte become irrevocably intertwined with that of mad Queen Isabel. As they navigate a tangled web of palace intrigue, power-lust, and deception, Ava and Midi must carve out their own survival any way they can.

What's new to your shelf this morning? As always, a big cheers to Tygna's Reviews for hosting Stacking the Shelves- happy weekend!

Waiting on Wednesday: Cress (Lunar Chronicles #3) by Marissa Meyer

Book 3 is coming: (!!!!)

Rapunzel’s tower is a satellite. She can’t let down her hair—or her guard. 

In this third book in the bestselling Lunar Chronicles series, Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they’re plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and her army. 

Their best hope lies with Cress, who has been trapped on a satellite since childhood with only her netscreens as company. All that screen time has made Cress an excellent hacker—unfortunately, she’s just received orders from Levana to track down Cinder and her handsome accomplice. 

When a daring rescue goes awry, the group is separated. Cress finally has her freedom, but it comes at a high price. Meanwhile, Queen Levana will let nothing stop her marriage to Emperor Kai. Cress, Scarlet, and Cinder may not have signed up to save the world, but they may be the only ones who can.

Loved Scarlet, Loved Cinder. Can't wait!

What made your Waiting on Wednesday this week? As always, cheers to Jill at Breaking the Spine for hosting WoW.

Review: The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson

A heart-stopping story of love, death, technology, and art set amid the tropics of a futuristic Brazil. 

The lush city of Palmares Três shimmers with tech and tradition, with screaming gossip casters and practiced politicians. In the midst of this vibrant metropolis, June Costa creates art that’s sure to make her legendary. But her dreams of fame become something more when she meets Enki, the bold new Summer King. The whole city falls in love with him (including June’s best friend, Gil). But June sees more to Enki than amber eyes and a lethal samba. She sees a fellow artist.

Together, June and Enki will stage explosive, dramatic projects that Palmares Três will never forget. They will add fuel to a growing rebellion against the government’s strict limits on new tech. And June will fall deeply, unfortunately in love with Enki. Because like all Summer Kings before him, Enki is destined to die.

Recommended by the NPR Book Concierge, this fell into the YA and Science Fiction and Fantasy Categories... with that cover.. I t was hard to say no, especially in light of NPR's review "Samba, Spiderbots and 'Summer' Love in Far-Future Brazil": 

"And how deliciously unusual to read a YA dystopia that's comfortable with ambiguity and nuance. This is a book that doesn't condescend."

Originality: 10.  So unique, from the social class, to the characters and the story telling. 

Absurdity: 2.  For some reason this never felt absurd, the story was so well told and smooth, no clunky plot twists and mostly relatable teen-age angst.

Level of Paranormal Romance: 9.  The love of the summer king drives this story. June's love, Gil's love, and the city's love.  It is steamy and unconventional and perfect for the story. Best of all- there is not fated-insta love.

Level of Harry-Potter-ness:  8.  This was a complex story that zipped right along, and while there are many futuristic distopias out there, Palmares Tres felt believable and otherworldly.  Read this book, you will not be dissapointed! Definately a caliber above many of the YA books out there.