Day 11 – A book you hated

I was really looking forward to writing this one, but I seem to have caught some awful virus and I feel like poo on toast, so the wit might be lacking.  Much like it was in this book.



The Trylle Series by Amanda Hocking

Amanda Hocking is famous for being a self-made millionaire because she self-published a bunch of books.  They were all about 99 cents on e-readers, and they were all lendable, so word of mouth helped her out.  My friend Clone was reading this series, and she kept texting me her frustrations.  That's when I knew I had to read this.  I'm a fan of cheesy movies & cheesy TV so I thought maybe it would be along those lines.

Turns out, no.

So much of this made me very, very angry.  There were parts I liked, but as a whole, do not want.  It took me ages to read the first book because I mentally edited it after every sentence.  The writing did improve over the course of the series, though.  I just couldn't get into it at all.  And then, just when it seemed alright, she added a character for no dang reason except for... you know, I don't even know why.  I will never understand.  It didn't make a lick of sense to me.

Also, this book is about trolls.  Trolls who get rich by stealing people's money.  All I could think of was this ridiculous game I used to play called Trolls on Treasure Island that I adored despite its terribleness.  I mention this redonk game to illustrate 2 points: 1- my tastes aren't always to be trusted and 2- I have the ability to like trolls.

Amanda Hocking continues to write and publish, and more power to her.  Obviously, people enjoy this series because she's made a ton of money from it.  Also obviously, I am not one of those people.

Day 10 – Favorite classic book

Since YA is a relatively modern phrase, I'm going with my favorite classic of children's literature.  Also, I know the image included is from the movie adaptation of this book, and I'm totes fine with that.  Watch the movie before you judge.  It stars Dame Maggie Smith; therefore, it's amazing.



The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

I talked before on this blog about the books that influenced me as a child, and this one definitely made the list.  This was one of the first books I chose to read on my own that wasn't assigned through school and that wasn't BSC or Sweet Valley Twins.  I owned a copy (can't even remember when/where it came from), and one random day, I looked through my bookcase, saw this, and just started reading.

I adore the main three characters of this for different reasons.  I love Mary Lennox because a- her name is perfection and b- she goes through a transformation that's insanely awesome.  She starts as the brattiest brat in Bratonia, and by the end, she's like one with the garden, all zen and magic.  I love Colin for part of those same reasons but also because he doesn't immediately change.  Colin is sort of awful, but he works his awful like no one I've ever seen.  And finally, I love Dickon because he seriously is awesome.  Unfortunately, I cannot think of a good way to express my love for him without it turning into a That's What She Said joke, but... I've always wanted my very own Dickon (snicker snicker).

The garden itself always appeal to me- a private, beautiful place to play games with your friend and just enjoy life as it happens.  I've never really been an outdoorsy kind of girl, but this story showed me the kind of outdoors that existed outside of my own neighborhood.  I grew up in the more urban area of my district, whereas a lot of my friends were from the more rural side, and I consider myself to be more of a city girl than anything else.  However, ever since I read The Secret Garden all those years ago, if I had the chance to live in a manor house in England that's surrounded by lush gardens and is preferably moor-adjacent, I'd hop a plane in an instant.  Luckily, I married a man who'd go along with this plan just as quickly.

This book is already on my Kindle because, since it's a classic, it's free!  I haven't read it in many years, so I'm hoping I'll get the chance to read it again soon.  So many books, so little time.  Ah, the life of an habitual reader...

Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving

Friday, Friday, Day 09 of the Challenge on Friday.  Oh, sorry, I think I lost my mind for a second.  Moving on... Today's choice is a book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving.



Across the Universe by Beth Revis

I held off on reading this book for a long time because (as the title of this entry says) I didn't think I would like it.  It wasn't because I thought that it wouldn't be a good read or anything, and I heard so many great reviews, but I'm not really a reading-sci-fi kind of gal.  I can watch the sci-fi, but I've never been one to read it, mostly because the only sci-fi I'd attempted was too much aka what Roman DeBeers would refer to as hard sci-fi (p.s. that link has some "salty" language, just FYI, and also I MISS PARTY DOWN!).  And that kind of book is usually just not my thing.  However, in all those great reviews, I kept hearing that this was a sci-fi murder mystery.  Part of that appealed to me, but I had a mental block up to the rest of it.

Then I went to the Breathless Reads event in Bethesda, where I got to meet Beth Revis.  After hearing her speak about this book and her inspirations and seeing firsthand just how awesome she is, I ignored that mental block and finally picked up Across the Universe (just in time for Beth to sign it for me too!).  It was the first book I read after the BR event, and I couldn't/didn't want to put it down.  It is sci-fi, but it's also very good.  I really shouldn't have pigeon-holed it as something I didn't like before I really gave it a chance.  There's a lot more to it than that.  I shouldn't get bogged down in genre, classifications, blah blah blah.  Frankly, as long as the writing is good, most other issues can be overcome.  And Beth Revis?  She is an excellent writer.

I hope my lesson from this book sticks with me.  I shouldn't always believe the hype (or ignore the hype).  I should make the decision for myself.

Day 08 – Most overrated book

There was no debate for me when it came to choose my book for today.  None at all.  This will probably be my easiest decision of the entire challenge.



Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

This book is all over the YA section, along with its sequels Linger and Forever.  So many readers are completely gaga over it.  They love the wonderfully rich story, the lyrical writing, the intense romantic connection between Sam and Grace.  Plus, Maggie is a VA girl, like me.  I didn't expect to be utterly blown away by this when I started it, but I did expect to like it.  And I didn't.

I didn't connect with the characters.  I thought the writing was good but ill-fitting with the story and what I interpreted to be the voices of the characters.  I thought the wolf mythology was interesting enough but also, meh.  Honestly, I didn't feel a thing when I read this.  I could see where the emotions were and where I should have been affected, but mostly I just wanted it to be over.  I guess I can see why it's so popular, and I do think it's better than some of the books I've read in the past, but it didn't inspire an overwhelming need to know what happened to the characters.  Even if I don't particularly like a book, I usually still read the sequels, just to have the knowledge of where the story went.  For this one, I didn't really care.  Hence, in my opinion, overrated.

Maybe one day I'll read it again and be able to see what all the hubbub is about.  Until then, I've found that you don't have to go to Europe in order to just be whelmed.

Day 07 – Most underrated book

It's kind of insane for me to say that this book is underrated considering it doesn't come out until next Tuesday, but I DON'T CARE.  It's amazing, and it needs more press!  Even if that press is my ranty rant blog!  Plus, this is my list!  MY LIST. 

Wanderlove by Kirsten Hubbard

I first became aware of Kirsten after seeing a link to a blog post she wrote last June.  I thought it was very interesting as a relative newcomer to the YA scene at the time, and I did a little more research on Kirsten.  After I became an official reviewer at Wastepaper Prose, I looked through some books on Netgalley and found that an advanced copy of Kirsten's second book Wanderlove was available.  So, I got it, and I read it.  Immediately.  Without stopping.  I couldn't put it down.  I loved it, absolutely.  (You can read my official review here.)

And now we're 6 days the release, and I am just so excited.  I want everyone to read this.  It's an amazingly written story of self-discovery, and it makes me desperate to travel.  (Hey Amber- this book is definitely for you!)  Hopefully, it will not stay underrated for long.

Day 06 – A book that makes you sad

Tough, tough choice.  I'm kind of an emo chick (duh) because I often enjoy things that make the average person sad.  I like the bittersweet parts of life, and I often find solace in talking about the tough, awkward things no one likes to talk about.  Anyway, I ended up choosing a book that, while it did make me sad, it also blew me away.

If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

Haunting, gorgeous, dramatic, realistic, and not an easy read.  I definitely loved this book, but oh how it made my heart hurt!  We get the story from Mia's point of view, but with the interesting twist that it's sort of an out-of-body experience immediately following a horrific car accident that claims her parents and puts her little brother's life in jeopardy as well.  This is Mia's struggle to survive, to decide if she wants to stay in this life or pass on.  Much of it is in flashback form, describing her relationship with her boyfriend Adam and the differences they faced as being parts of different crowds.  Their relationship reminds me a bit of Say Anything..., especially in the different crowds part.  Adam has a Lloyd Dobler-esque way about him, and Mia is very Diane Court with a cello.

I also tend to personalize things way too much, so If I Stay gets me because I start to think, "What if this happened to me?  What would I do?  How would I go on?" and then the tears start rolling.  And basically anytime Adam is in the hospital, I'm on the verge of a meltdown.  However, though it's very sad, it also contains a lot of hope.  An excellent read.

There is a sequel to this that I haven't read yet (because I am the WORST!) and it's called Where She Went. It comes out in paperback in April, so I'll be sure to pick it up.

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy

Tough choice, as I tend to be a mega-fangirl flail monster whenever a book makes me happy.  I have rambled, I have raved, I have spewed nonsense words at The Hubs when describing a particularly good book.  However, I chose this book because, immediately after reading the last word, I couldn't stop grinning. And not a regular grin, but one of those ear-to-ear numbers.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Reasons this book makes me happy:
*The authors.  John Green & David Levithan are the best dudes in YA.  You know I love John Green like it's my job (which, if it was my job, I'd be Employee of the Month ALL OF THE MONTHS), and I'm a huge fan of David Levithan's collaboration novels.  Their writing styles complement each other in the best ways, though (duh) I like John's chapters more.
*Tiny Cooper.  There's nothing about Tiny that doesn't make me smile.  Just saying his name makes me smile.  Because it's hilarious.
*The ending.  My friend Matt once described the movie Little Miss Sunshine to me like this: "so it keeps getting sadder and sadder and just when you think it can't get any worse, it suddenly explodes into a giant ball of HAPPY like a roller coaster going up a hill and HAPPYYYYYY!" (which is the sound of him singing).  Now, the giant ball of happy roller coaster is the perfect way to describe the ending of WG, WG.  I feel it's impossible to read it without an enormous smile.  I may have cried and clapped while reading it.  I hope you do too!

In non-book challenge news, I saw Gaelic Storm last night, and it was really fun.  Here's a video of their song,  "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe."  It's a pretty good representation of what their shows are like- a lot of nonsense and a lot of fun.  I hope this story is true.