January Reads

Better late than never, here is what I read in January.

1) Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor:

While I didn't enjoy this sequel nearly as much as I did its predecessor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I did find myself irresistibly drawn back into the world of Karou and Akiva; the world of the chimaera and the seraphim. This novel is slower and darker than Daughter, and follows the separate lives of the now estranged protagonists—one a chimaera raised as a human, one an angel atoning for his sins. In parts the book's pace felt too slow to me, though perhaps this is intended to reflect the long, frustrating struggle the characters find themselves caught up in. The plot had some interesting twists, and left me eager to read the third and last book in the series (out in April, 2014, according to Laini Taylor's website). I remain really impressed with the skill of this author—her writing is beautiful!

2) NW by Zadie Smith:

I was excited months ahead of time to read Zadie Smith's newest novel, having enjoyed The Autograph Man, White Teeth, and especially On Beauty. And then a friend told me that it was written in a stream-of-consciousness style reminiscent of James Joyce's writing, and I got really disappointed (while I actually like James Joyce, I have a major prejudice against Stephen Dedalus, whom I think is possibly the most annoying character ever created). I couldn't have been more wrong about Zadie Smith's NW, though. I loved it! Such an awesome sense of place, such real characters, such satisfyingly interwoven plot lines. Whether the reader is a native Londoner or has never set eyes on the Thames, this book has so much to offer. In parts gritty, funny, and sad, it's an authentic look into the author's hometown of (northwest) London, UK.

...and that's it. I only read two books in January. It was one of those rare times when I actually found myself too busy to read as much as usual: my 21-year-old Toyota's engine blew up, necessitating a frantic search for a reasonably-priced used car (we bought a 2003 Hyundai, which we love); my in-laws visited from England, meaning two weeks worth of fun activities and much happy exhaustion; and my sister and I frantically managed to get some last-minute training sessions in for our half marathon, which we ran at the beginning of February. In fact, here's a photo of us after we crossed the finish line. Because I may look like a dork, but I trained for seven months!

So that's what's going on here at the book cafe, blog readers. What adventures are all of you up to lately?

A February post

How is everyone's 2013 reading going? It's already February and I've only finished two books! Although I'm nearing the end of Justin Cronin's The Twelve, which is a long and crazy journey through post-zombie-psychic-vampire-virus-apocalypse America. Sticking to my resolution to branch out in my reading, I'm also making my way through an illustrated collection of Rumi's poetry, and today at the library I picked up a book on West African history and one on pre-Columbus American history—enough to keep me busy for a little while, at least.

Libraries—I practically live in them these days; I go to one in the morning before work, and sometimes again after work. On our drive home, Big Chimp and I will often stop in at our local branch to browse or pick up reservations. I started a new job in November as a one-on-one aide for a child with special needs—and often when my student needs to take a break from school work, we'll walk down to the library and explore the books and DVDs. I really think I was meant to be a librarian.

Oh, writing. My writing time has been taken up entirely by editing; I'm finally doing some serious work on the novel I finished last summer—reading through and taking notes on changes I want to make. It's now been so long since I wrote the book that sections of it seem new to me, as if someone else wrote them. This is both strange and exciting; I believe it allows me to judge the story more as a reader, which is a whole lot more helpful than judging it as the person who wrote it.

And—nothing whatsoever to do with writing or reading—my half marathon is looming now, disturbing my sleep and filling my dreams with phantom injuries, turning my thoughts to stitches and stretches and running playlists and hydration and shot blocks. I am, to say the least, apprehensive. In a couple of weeks it will all be over. I hope my legs survive.

What's everyone else up to this winter?

New Year's resolutions

It's been an eventful year here at the book cafe: European trips, one amazing Harry Potter studio tour, the Olympics, a trans-Atlantic move, new jobs. But in between all the excitement and the scariness of life changes, one thing remained constant: as always, I had my nose in a book about fifty percent of the time. This year my reading goal was sixty books, a goal that I managed to meet with a week to spare (fist pump).

My other literary goal, of course, was to finish my first draft of Dyllan and Abigail, my second young adult fantasy novel, which I accomplished over the summer.

So, what's in store for 2013?

Reading goals:

• Read 40 books.
• (Of these: 5 history books, 5 poetry collections, and 5 classics.)

Writing goals:

• Write 8,000 words each week.
• Edit Dyllan and Abigail until it looks like something resembling a real novel.

Non-literary goals:

• Complete my first half marathon (only a few weeks away!).
• Keep on running even after the half marathon is over.
• Start doing yoga.
• Learn Spanish.
• Support more charities.

So, what are your New Year's resolutions, readers? Let me know in the comments!

And however you celebrate tonight, stay happy and safe! See you next year.

The ninety-nine percent

*picks up blog*

*blows away dust*

Hello? Is everyone still here? I've been away for a while now, with November being crazy with NaNoWriMo and Thanksgiving and birthdays and new jobs and helping people move—did you guys do NaNo, by the way? I managed to hit 50K at 5:00pm on November 30th, just squeaking by with another "win," although my dragon novel somehow turned into a crazy time travel novel instead.

Anyway, with November being totally chaotic, I managed to fall way behind on my reading. My goal is to read 60 books this year, and last night I finished my 54th. I think I'm going to ease off writing for a little while to make sure I hit my reading goal by January 1st.

But I wanted to leave you with a quote that resonated with me, from one of the two books I did manage to read in November. This is from Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain (page 159). If I were a teacher, I would put this up on the wall of my classroom:

Persistence is not very glamorous. If genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration, then as a culture we tend to lionize the one percent. We love its flash and dazzle. But great power lies in the ninety-nine percent.

"It's not that I'm so smart," said Einstein, who was a consummate introvert. "It's that I stay with problems longer."

Writing your first novel? Helpful blogs for new writers

An old friend of mine from high school recently made the huge decision to write his first novel. Awesome! And that made me think back to a few years ago, when I first started writing seriously and genuinely hoping to be published one day. I had just finished my MFA and I was feeling a little lost. The same sort of feeling you get when finals finish after a really tough quarter: like a train that's run out of tracks. That's when I started to venture into the online writing community, checking out Facebook groups (remember those?), websites, and blogs. I learned a lot from agents, editors, and authors—both published and unpublished. I learned about craft (the MFA didn't teach me everything), good writing habits, setbacks, the publishing industry...you name it and I probably read a blog post about it. These days, I feel confident that I've learned the basics of the publishing process. So while I'm still a long way from querying, I feel informed, I feel ready, and I know what I need to do (namely produce a manuscript that's good enough to sit on the shelves of the YA section in my local bookstore, rubbing shoulders with the works of JK Rowling and John Green and Diana Wynne Jones—yeah, totally no big deal).

So the first thing I did when my friend announced that he was writing a book was offer to give him a list of blogs I found helpful when I first started out. And then I figured that that information might be useful to other just-starter-outers.

Thus, without further ado, here's my list of helpful blogs for the first time novelist hoping for publication:

Rachelle Gardner, literary agent: This lady's blog helped me a lot in understanding how the publishing industry works, and what the roles of agent, editor, and author entail. Her posts are concise and informative, and her tone is helpful and friendly. Check out her lists of popular posts on the right hand side.

Nathan Bransford, author and former literary agent: When I first started reading this blog, its author was a literary agent. As such, there's a lot of fantastic information here about the publishing process. But Nathan Bransford is also a published author of middle grade novels, so his posts span a broad area of the writing/publishing spectrum.

Natalie Whipple, YA author: As nice as it is having the "inside scoop" that you get from the blogs of agents and editors, it's so encouraging and informative to read about the author's journey to publication. Natalie Whipple's first novel comes out next year and she's been gracious enough to share every step of the process, both good and bad. I can't tell you how inspiring and helpful this blog has been for me.

Kiersten White, YA author: Author of the bestselling Paranormalcy series, Kiersten White takes an often humorous look at writing and publishing.

Query Shark: When your novel is the best it can possibly be and you feel like you're ready to get it out into the world, the first step is to write a query letter to a literary agent. This site, on which query letters are ruthlessly critiqued, will help you learn how to write one—or how not to write one, as the case may be.

I read a lot of blogs, but these five stand out as particularly helpful for new writers. As you start to explore the online writing world you will find your own favorite sites. Reading the comments sections on blogs you like and participating in discussions there will also help you find and connect with people who are on the same path as you.

Of course, the most important part of your journey isn't reading blogs, it's writing. So give yourself a little time to check out these blogs, then turn off your Internet connection and write!

Writing at the library today

We've been looking for places to write—libraries, cafes, book shops. Unfortunately, there's nothing very promising in our immediate area; our local library branches are small, and there are a couple of chain coffee houses but they're not very exciting (and I always feel I have to keep buying drinks and snacks to justify sitting in there—not so good for my unemployed self). But a couple of days ago when looking for an Arabic textbook for my sister I stumbled onto a library branch I never knew existed, about a 15-minute drive from our house. This place looks awesome, guys. Big new building, lots and lots of books, and plenty of work desks and study nooks. Plus, they had the textbook my sister needed. Total win! Big Chimp and I are going there for an extended writing session this afternoon.

As for what I'll be writing, I haven't decided yet. I'll either continue with the contemporary novel I've been slowly working on lately, or I might start the third book in my YA fantasy series, or if I'm feeling very brave I might start reading over Dyllan and Abigail and making notes for edits. I'll report back with how it goes.

Hope everyone is having a happy reading and writing day today!

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Photo source: Wikimedia Commons, image credit to Nick Moreau.