Coming Soon: 60 Page Reviews

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." - Benjamin Franklin

My book club has a policy which states that in order to disqualify a book from the very fierce competition toward the Melinda Awards, two or three (not sure exactly how many at the moment) persons must read at least sixty pages in order to give it a "No." I've done that at least once (Vampire Crush - even the title is terrible!), and I'm currently struggling to reach the sixtieth page of What Boys Really Want by Pete Hautman. So this is basically a preview of something to come. First I shall probably review the aforementioned "vampire" novel. Also, I may be amending my New Year's resolution to 100 or maybe even 150 books. At least. I really need to get up to speed on my reading. In addition to these, I'm trying to read more good books and sixty pages each of more gods-awful books, which means my ascending standards won't tolerate any "decent" or "OK" books - it must be on either side of the fence for me and not on its tip. This is in order to improve my own writing and throw off more books for Printz. Another reason for which I do this is efficiency: I must read more. I already read far more than most people, but I was surprised at the reading abilities of many of my fellow members, particularly Ara. Much power to that one! I must, of course, make room for non-Printz books, but that should't be an issue. Anyhow, time to go!

Peace!

- Lewis

Writing to a Dead Man

"Do you not know death when you see it, old man? This is my hour!" - The Witch-King of Angmar from the extended movie version of The Return of the King (Peter Jackson one)

"Life is quite absurd, and death's the final word. You must always face the curtain with a bow! Forget your life of sin; give the audience a grin! Just remember it's your last chance anyhow!" - Eric Idle (I've had the song stuck in my head for several days now)

"A dying man needs to die, as a sleepy man needs to sleep, and there comes a time when it is wrong, as well as useless, to resist." - Stewart Alsop (via BrainyQuote)

So I finished the book Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder (a wonderful gift from my uncle Chris, who knew I had an interest in screenwriting). At the end of Chapter One, Blake gave his email address, but I decided to wait until I had finished until writing him, lest any additional questions should present themselves to me. So I finished it a few days ago and wrote the email, sent it...and got it back with one of those "failed to deliver to recipient" things. I decided for one reason or another to go to Blake's website - and found out that he had died suddenly in 2009.

No! No!

But I suppose we must all go at one point or another. It sounds like he had a great life. In John Green's new book, The Fault in Our Stars (garr, how did I forget to blog about MEETING THE VLOGBROTHERS IN PERSON???), he says something about how a full life does not necessarily mean one lives to be ninety-two or whatnot; it means to have led a great life, regardless of how soon or late one dies.

So it was a bit of a shock and I felt sort of weird - but it's not the end of the world. Gods rest you, Mr. Blake Snyder, and I hope you enjoyed your go at life.

Love from a fan,

Lewis / Danny

Winter Reviews: Mattimeo by Brian Jacques

I listened to this audio book several months ago and never reviewed it for some reason. Now don't get me wrong: I love Brian Jacques' writing style. His descriptions are beautiful. Apparently he once wrote for blind children. But the story lines, while good individually, are starting to get formulaic, as my friend Elijah would say. I think a bit of formula is OK, but this (the third book, after Redwall and Mossflower) is starting to push it. If you read my post about the original novel, you'll see that I gave it an "A" - a grade that still stands. The prequel, Mossflower, got a "B" due to a repeated formula.

Now this one, which takes place a couple years (eight seasons, as they say in the book) after the first one. Redwall Abbey has had that amount of time filled with peace and happiness, when a fox and his band of rats and weasels and such approach the castle and are allowed in to perform circus tricks. They drug their hosts and kidnap several young, including Mattimeo, the son of the abbey's champion warrior Matthias - the main character of book one and, actually, the main character of this one as well. The fox, Slagar the Cruel (pronounced "Croo-elle" by the awesome and rather scary voice actor), turns out to be none other than Chickenhound from the first book. He was not allied with Cluny (the original villain, who was a rat) - he represents another faction altogether - but I found him to be much more evil than Cluny. Cluny, while awesome, never struck me as a horrible being, more just a warlord who meant business. Maybe I'll make a different post about that rat. But the Sly One (Slagar) kidnaps and kills totally innocent creatures rather than only those who stand against him. He murders Friar Hugo (a Redwall mouse), which is a shame because Matthias had just barely saved Hugo at the end of Redwall, when Hugo was being held hostage by Cluny just  before Cluny met his end. Anyhow, this is book three I'd like to discuss.

This one had a pretty original plot, as Mossflower was sort of a recycled version of the first, but what threw me off was the riddles. I like a good riddle now and then, but it seems that every single book "just happens" to involve a riddle painfully similar to the other ones. It's been several months and now I might attempt to listen to another one (Mariel of Redwall). Each book I've read seems stand-alone enough, but still...gahh. I must say I loved Slagar, as horrid as he was (terrible creature morally, but a great villain). Horrible people (or animals) can make great characters.

One other thing gets me about this whole series, or what I've read of it: Jacques was probably not a remotely racist man, but it seems like certain creatures are labeled as vessels for good or bad: rats, foxes, and snakes are evil; mice, hares, badgers, and so forth are good. There are also some creatures who have both good and rotten members, such as wildcats, sparrows, and shrews. It doesn't seem right that every time a fox or rat approaches the abbey, he or she is patronized and ostracized.

I may sound a little fifty-fifty on this book, because I am. I enjoyed it, but I hope four is less redundant. Basil Stag Hare is still awesome. "What, what?"

Happy reading,

Lewis

Books of 2011

Yes, this is ripped off of Olivia's awesome blog because it struck me as a good idea. I shall forthwith produce a list of the books I've read this year. The numbers have nothing to do with rank; they just count how many books I've read this year. The ratings I give will be by letter, but one may imagine them as stars: one star fails, and an grade-"A" book gets five. Savvy? Oh, and some of my favorite books may get three or four stars due to more critical, objective aspects, as opposed to how much I enjoyed them. Also, I may change my views over time, so don't be shocked to see a different grade on Shelfari of GoodReads or whatever.

Begin!

1. 9 (screenplay) ~ C
2. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ~ A
3. Animal Farm ~ B
4. Between Shades of Gray ~ B
5. Catching Fire ~ B
6. Catwings Return ~ C (apparently this is part of a series, so I might change the "memory grade" later)
7. A Christmas Carol ~ C
8. The Clockwork Experiment ~ B (Olivia's book - not yet published, but I'm rooting for it to catch an agent's eye)
9. The Crucible ~ A (can't remember if I actually read all of it, as it was for English class and partly read and partly viewed as a film)
10. Dead End in Norvelt ~ B
11. Death Note 1 ~ A (although this is my first and so far only manga, so I may not be the best judge)
12. The Doll's House (Sandman #2) ~ B
13. Dracula ~ B
14. Every You, Every Me ~ A
15. Fahrenheit 451 ~ B
16. The Floating Islands ~ A
17. The Giver ~ B
18. The Great Redwall Feast ~ B
19. Hamlet ~ A
20. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ~ A
21. The Hunger Games ~ B
22. Lady Windermere's Fan ~ B
23. Macbeth ~ B
24. Mattimeo ~ C
25. MirrorMask ~ A
26. Misery (screenplay) ~ A
27. Mockingjay ~ B
28. Mossflower ~ B
29. Of Mice and Men ~ B
30. Othello ~ A
31. Painted Fire ~ B
32. Paper Covers Rock ~ A
33. Paper Towns ~ B
34. Persepolis ~ A
35. The Phantom Limb ~ D
36. The Poison Eaters and Other Stories ~ A
37. Preludes & Nocturnes (Sandman #1) ~ A
38. Redwall ~ A
39. Requiem: Poems of the Terezin Ghetto ~ F
40. Robot Haiku ~ C
41. Romeo and Juliet ~ A
42. Rot & Ruin ~ B
43. Salome ~ B
44. The Shadowing: Hunted ~ C
45. The Stand ~ C
46. The Summer of May ~ C
47. Ten Little Indians (play) ~ B
48. Through the Looking-Glass ~ B
49. The Two Princesses of Bamarre ~ A
50. Vampire Crush ~ F (I didn't even read the whole thing, but it was definitely awful)
51. Welcome to Bordertown ~ B
52. Wither ~ B
53. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ~ A (if you can picture something even better than the beloved late-'30's movie, you know what I mean)

So there we have it. Fifty-three, eh? My goal (and resolution) for 2012 is to read more than that. I'll set it at seventy-five. Maybe eventually I'll be in the hundreds, eh? We shall see!

Book Review: Wither by Lauren DeStefano

This book came out before I started it, but I took the galley (uncorrected proof) from Printz and read it. I loved it.

The plot revolves around sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, who lives in a not-too distant future in which a medical accident causes males to die at age twenty-five and females at twenty. And young women and girls are being snatched off the streets and sold as wives to polygamous mansions. Rhine is kidnapped and ends up with three other brides at the estate of Vaughn Ashby and his son Linden. And she plans to escape.

The prose was quite clear in this, and reminded me of that of The Hunger Games - not in a copious way, but in the sense that they are both well-written and both first-person present-tense. The story was clever, I thought, and I felt for Rhine throughout. I liked how she kept trying to escape and failing, or rather, how convinced I was she'd make it each time. Some really good methods, but you'll have to read the book to see that...and whether she escapes at all by the end. But this is the first of a series (the Chemical Garden trilogy), and I'll definitely want to see what happens next.

Final grade: A

Terrible Books

"Novels so often provide an anodyne and not an antidote, glide one into torpid slumbers instead of rousing one with a burning brand." - Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)

My friend Ara intentionally reads books that are awful and blogs about them. For the longest time I would read only books I thought I would like, and generally my predictions were accurate, with a few exceptions such as Twilight, Requiem: Poems from the Terezin Ghetto, and The Lightning Thief. But now, in order to season myself as the amateur critic that I am, I chose a poorly-reviewed book from Printz (Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma). It's about a brother and sister who fall in love, which in itself is odd. Could be a good book (not too far yet), but I only hope to whatever gods may or may not exist that it doesn't encourage incest. I still hope to read some other of the well-liked ones before this fall when endings are spoiled, but if I love everything I read, then what kind of critic am I? A person once told me I couldn't critique stuff properly. Of course the bloke was wrong, because he hardly enjoys any books and anyone who's a bit less cynical is apparently a softy.

If I've made any typos and left them, you must excuse me: I cut open my left thumb and index finger and am wearing plasters at the moment, which makes it hard to type.

Love,

Lewis

Books, Books, Books!

"I hate quotations. Tell me what you know." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I recently discovered the website Goodreads via my former Creative Writing teacher's blog. I already have a Shelfari, but I went ahead and created an account anyway. I like this site because I can sort things onto multiple "shelves". I don't prefer it to Shelfari, nor vice versa, but it's a good site. I found someone from my book club there and discovered we are both huge Neil Gaiman fans. One of the many things I'm currently reading (semi-reading in this case) is the second Sandman graphic novel by Gaiman, titled The Doll's House. I loved the first one because it was of the mind-bending variety and featured the Lord of Dreams. Very interesting.

I am currently nearing the end of Dracula and really liking it. Vampires - when they don't sparkle - are something I love reading about. Until recently my favorite book was Stephen King's second novel, 'Salem's Lot (it is now The Two Princesses of Bamarre, by Gail Carson Levine). If anyone shares this affinity, he or she ought to check out The Vampire Archives, edited by Otto Penzler. It contains over a thousand pages of centuries of vampire fiction, including M.E. Braddon, Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice, Bram Stoker, and countless others.

I must read Wither by Lauren DeStefano soon for Printz, so that I know what everyone is talking about. I just wanted to have a post about books, and I can guarantee more of these. But for now I must leave.

Au revoir,

Lewis

A Day Well Spent

I mentioned in an earlier post I saw X-Men: First Class this afternoon. After that I read for a while, then attended an orientation for volunteers at a local library. This is going to be fun. I met some new people there who seemed nice, plus I'll get to be around books, AND I get volunteer credit. This'll be great.

That was a short post, but it's nearly Thursday. Sorry!

'Night,

Lewis

Three Library-Related Things

Ah, I keep meaning to post this, along with my review for The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, but stuff keeps happening. Sorry!

I.
Anyhow, I've been checking out a lot of library audio books as of late. I realized it is more convenient at times to check one out (for free, as opposed to bookstores) and put it on iTunes for later listening. I might have mentioned that I am still listening to Redwall, and it remains so, but I am a good way in - six or seven discs out of nine, I think. I'm liking it so far. I have the prequel, Mossflower, on here too. The only two problems I have had with the audio books have been 1) The Lovely Bones, which was missing a CD, and 2) The World According to Garp, for which Disc 2 was identified as Disc 1 on two separate copies. I guess I'll just read the bound book.

II.
You know what? I'm going to put my Poison Eaters review here after all. I'd give the book four stars out of five, and I really enjoyed all of the stories, particularly "A Reversal of Fortune," "The Coldest Girl in Coldtown," and one I'm forgetting the name of, about a wolf eating people in a castle (sorry Holly!). And of course "The Poison Eaters" was rather interesting. I try to be pickyish about what I give five stars, but this book was really good in every way. Recommend? Certainly.

III.
I went to my first Printz club yesterday, and I enjoyed it. I only wish I'd known about it years ago. I got some good recommendations, and I checked out a book called The Floating Islands, which looked good. I'll see these people in maybe four weeks (some sooner), and I look forward to it. I also met some awesome people there, such as (Nikki? Was that it? She was really cool). Hannah of course is amazing, and Olivia too, and that Rachel seems pretty cool...and lucky her mother lets her have a sword (mine is quite paranoid). And this guy named Alex seemed very friendly. Overall, aside from the not knowing why people start clapping at times, I think it will work out well.

The Serial Killer

"SQUIRREL!!!" - Doug (talking dog from Up)

No, this is not about a murderer. It is about books killed by serial overload. I'm saying that if a book is part of a huge series, then many people do not have the focus or speed to read through them in order. It is different if the author simply has many books--many of my favorite writers do--but if there are twenty books in one string, they have to be pretty darn good for me to read all of them *cough, Robert Jordan*.

The same applies to the telly. Many things I have begun or plan to have a bazillion seasons in order, and while some of them are almost definitely worth it (Doctor Who), I simply don't get enough time to watch all - especially since nobody mentioned the good shows until a year ago. I don't watch a whole lot of TV, but there are certain things of interest. Another thing is that I don't always have the time.

I don't expect you guys to read every post I've ever written--you don't need to scan through them all to understand this one, do you? If there is a technique to doing so, please comment and tell me.

The recently deceased (rest in peace) Brian Jacques seems somewhat of an exception to me. I am listening to his first in the series (book and series both called Redwall) and have the one for the prequel, Mossflower. There are, I believe, twenty-one books in order, but this one is pretty good so far. I plan on at least listening to the first two, and eventually the whole series. This is because it retains interest, and because each book sounds like it has its own ending (not "To Be Continued").

I have school in about an hour, so I'll leave it there. I don't think I've ever blogged this hour on a school day before. Also, I seem to be BEDA-ing without exactly meaning to--I've been blogging a lot, but not because it is April.

Anyway, take care.
Lewis

Into the Jaws of [Almost] Certain Failure

So Script Frenzy starts tomorrow. I am excited, but also nervous. I hope I actually learn something about scripts. We don't want another NaNoWriMo 2009.... *shudders* But maybe it'll work. Who knows? Maybe I'll randomly pull out a magic hat from nowhere with zero experience, like everyone else seems to for Nano.

In other news, I spent last weekend in Asheville. For those of you who ask why: It's a nice place, but no relatives or anything. I had my first tarot reading there, and visited two nice little bookshops, one of which had a signed copy of Dandelion Wine, which was said to be at least 500 dollars. Out hotel had a nice little cafe where I could sit and type or read, which I did.

I should be getting a guitar soon. Finally! I've been waiting a long, long time for this. And here it is. Now I'm going to run off and ask my mom something, but it was nice blogging! =)

Love,
Lewis

Two Book-Days

On Saturday, my dad took me to the library book blowout thing at the fairgrounds, and I spent ninety-one dollars of my own cash to get two cardboard boxes full of books. Isn't it funny how the cheaper things come, the more one spends? I got a few Stephen Kings (including an accidental two copies, as mentioned on my Facebook, of Dolores Claiborne); a lot of books by Dean Koontz (I've heard he's good); a couple of Anne Rices; several Dan Brown novels; John Varley's Mammoth (saw it at the store years ago and never got around to it); Offspring by Jack Ketchum; the third book of Jeff Shaara's World War II trilogy, titled No Less Than Victory; Martin's A Game of Thrones; a couple by Clive Barker; a book by Bernard Cornwell (who my friend Pam met); the original Dragonriders of Pern in one volume; some Ken Follett; and more. In short, I am a bit of a bookworm.

On Sunday (I'm writing this during the wee hours of Monday morning), I visited a closing Borders (a lot of them are closing, sadly) and bought (with my mother's money) roughly $250 worth of books. The first one I saw was rather cheap (book three of a series I have not yet started, titled The Dragon Heir--I later got the first two), and I contemplated going for The Vampire Archives, which is NOT a paranormal romance for the record, but decided it was too pricy. I should have gone for it, because I might as well have, with all the rest. I also got Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (who I met a little under a year ago); Stephen King's Under the Dome; The Book Thief; The Looking Glass Wars; Wizard's First Rule; Johnny Tremain; My Brother Sam is Dead; Paper Towns (need to read Green still); the first Cirque du Freak book; The House of the Scorpion; The Mammoth Book of the Best of Best New Horror; Flipped; Kaku's Beyond Einstein; and so on. I got a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 poster and a "Down with the Capitol!" poster relating to The Hunger Games, which I had not started yet at that point, but figured, "If not now, then when?"

Overall, my mother and I spent a lot of dough, but it was well worth it. We went to Gypsy's Shiny Diner afterward and had a very filling burger meal, and while we had contemplated a movie, we were too stuffed by that point. When I got home I shelved my books, hence the huge amount of "Lewis W now owns _______" on my Shelfari account. All in all, it was a great two days. I must leave now.

Au revoir,
LMW

Happy New Year!

Here it is: 2011. The second year of the second decade of the first century of the third millennium. And as I attempted to convey in the last post, life goes on. I feel compelled to tell you (not sure why) what the first thing I ate this year was: A bowl of blueberry/oats cereal. Anyway, I think I have some resolutions, which I may or may not change:

• Write a sizable novel
• Learn guitar
• Take Drivers' Ed (I keep saying that!)
• Get more involved at school
• Read a book of 1,000+ pages (finishing The Stand would count)
• Watch an episode of Doctor Who
• Leave the country (vacation wise)
• Read/finish certain books
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• Dracula
• The Graveyard Book
• Alice in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass
• A Christmas Carol
• The Stand, as mentioned before
• Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower IV)
• Year's Best SF 14
• Preludes & Nocturnes (Sandman 1)
• For the Win
• Visit my Florida friends, whom I have not seen for years
• Get something published in a book/magazine/anything printed
• Record a song
• Write a script
• Play Quidditch (yes, you read correctly)
• Start learning a language (I'm thinking Spanish or French)
• Get back into acting

Whoa, that's a lot! I didn't expect that many. Now I don't know if I'll be able to do all of them, but "shoot for the moon," eh?

Sorry; my computer is acting up. I spent HOURS writing this post, and now most of it's gone. I don't think I'll rewrite it, but I'm very ticked now.

Anyhow, happy new year and all that, and I'm going to bed now. Maybe I'll post more later.

American Gods

I believe this is my first Blogger book review. The title of the novel is in the title of the post: American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It is by far the best novel I've read so far by Mr. Gaiman, the other two being Stardust and Coraline. He is a great writer, says I, and this would make a great film. It begins with Shadow Moon (funny name, eh?) being released from prison after a three-year sentence. On the day of his release, he learns that his wife, Laura, has been killed in a car crash. On the plane ride home, he meets a man man who calls himself Mr. Wednesday. Wednesday offers Shadow a job: to protect Wednesday and act as a bodyguard, and not to ask questions. A storm rocks the plane, but Wednesday says that a far bigger storm is coming. And one does, toward the end, both literally and metaphorically.

Actually, I won't tell the entire plot here for two reasons: I don't want to spoil it, and I don't remember every little detail. The only flaw I could think of was that it had a few coincidences for plot convenience, but no book is perfect. I will say that many gods from many cultures are featured in the book (but not Greek!), and that it is what I call an R-rated book: a lot of cursing, sex, violence, etc.

If you want to know how it ends, read it. But I'll say this: It had more elaboration than Coraline and more "plants and payoffs" than Stardust. All in all, a very good book. It took me a short while once I really began to read intensely, which gave me an idea: I should have a weekly "reading night" in which I try to finish or at least get really far into a book. For some reason, I automatically thought of Tuesday as a night for this.

I suppose I should grade the book. Final grade: B+/A-

Conversion

News seems to be floating around concerning Nooks, Kindles, and such. I rejected the idea for a long time, seeing as I preferred physically bound books, but a shelf can only hold so many. I am an addict, and my drug of choice is literature. I buy way more than I have time to read (thank goodness for "used" stores!), and a storage system would be nice. Plus, I hear books are cheaper on there? It's starting to not sound so bad to me. I shan't waste my shelves, however; they may well become stocked with encyclopedic volumes on things that interest me. I might make a video to show off my books before saying farewell. Ah! This all sounds so final. It is not. I am merely pondering the eventual outcome of what may yet happen.

Random notes: HARRY POTTER!!!!! SO FRICKIN' EXCITED!!!!!!!!! ~ Finished Night by Elie Wiesel today. It was quite a shocking story, especially considering its truth. ~ That reminds me, I might post a link to my Shelfari on my main page. ~ I'm glad the Beatles are now on iTunes. I might save up my credits to buy their Box Set--it's $149.

LMW

My First Job

Indeed. I work at a place in Creedmoor called Silent Forest. It's basically an outdoor haunted house, but it's a really fun place to work at. I only have one night left as I write this, but it's awesome. I, the undertaker/mortician, creep out of my little shack, bang the tin roof with my scythe-stick, and say darkly humorous things. We don't get payed until the first week of November, but it's a decent sum: $200, more or less. I'm guessing $203. My plan is to put half of it into savings, and use half of it for whatever I will (probably books).

I know this was a short post, but I'm tired.

Goodnight!