Weekly Geeks

Everything changes. Weekly Geeks is ending after this week. I didn't always participate and always wished I did it more regularly, but it was a fun meme.

It was started by Dewey, an energetic book blogger who passed away in 2008. She had hinted to health problems and pain on her blog a few times, but I don't think any of us realized how serious it was or even if they were related. One day there was a post from her husband telling us that she was gone. But she left her mark. Weekly Geeks lived for 3 more years until participation has slowed to the point where it's now ending. But Dewey's biannual 24-hour Read-a-Thon is still going strong. She was big on connecting bloggers to other bloggers and I think she'd be happy that 3 years later, she's still succeeding in getting us all to play together.

And now, one of my favorite weekly geek memes, which has been repeated a few times, is when I post my list of unreviewed books, and you ask me questions about those books, so it's easier for me to write my review. They're in order I read them. It does not include books I've already written preliminary reviews for (so, that's huge Cybils backlog from 2009 isn't included.) It may make you feel better about your reviewing backlog to note that my backlog starts way back in April 2007. Oiy vey. I obviously need your help.

2007:


Midnight at the Dragon Cafe Judy Fong Bates
Name Me Nobody Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Chicks with Sticks: (Knit Two Together) Elizabeth Lenhard







2008:

The Murder Of Bindy Mackenzie Jaclyn Moriarty
The Spell Book Of Listen Taylor Jacyln Moriarty
Shopgirl Steve Martin
An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries Nina Schindler
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Pual Zindel
Feeling Sorry for Celia Jaclyn Moriarty
The Year Of Secret Assignments Jaclyn Moriarty
Toning The Sweep Angela Johnson
Nothing But The Truth Avi
Cathy's Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233 Sean Stewart, Jordan Weisman
Shooter Walter Dean Myers
Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff Jennifer Holm
The Winning Element (The Specialists) Shannon Greenland
Native Tongue (The Specialists) Shannon Greenland

2009:

Born Too Short: The Confessions of an Eighth-Grade Basket Case Dan Elish
A Girl, a Boy, and a Monster Cat Gail Gauthier
A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers Gail Gauthier
Ballet Shoes Noel Streatfeild
Winter's Child (Once Upon a Time) Cameron Dokey
Snow (Once Upon a Time) Tracy Lynn
Midnight Pearls (Once Upon a Time) Debbie Viguie

2010:

The London Eye Mystery Siobhan Down
The Nine Pound Hammer (The Clockwork Dark, Book 1) John Claude Bemis
Wild Things Clay Carmichael
The Shrouding Woman Loretta Ellsworth
Ransom My Heart Meg Cabot and Mia Thermopolis
The Birthday Ball Lois Lowry
Posh and Prejudice (Diary of a Chav) Grace Dent
A Whole Nother Story Dr. Cuthbert Soup
Only the Good Spy Young (Gallagher Girls) Ally Carter
Zombies vs. Unicorns Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

The Unsinkable Walker Bean Aaron Renier
The Darkly Luminous Fight for Persephone Parker (Strangely Beautiful) Leanna Renee Hieber
Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, Book 3) Suzanne Collins
Bad Kitty Gets a Bath Nick Bruel
e Squared: A Novel Matt Beaumont
Fables Vol. 14: Witches Bill Willingham
Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) Lenore Skenazy
A Hat Full of Sky: The Continuing Adventures of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men Terry Prachett

2011:

Shades of Grey: A Novel Jasper Fforde
Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee Robert van Gulik (translator)
Paul Is Undead Alan Goldsher
Stink and the Incredible Super-Galactic Jawbreaker (Book #2) Megan McDonald
Sideways Stories from Wayside School Louis Sachar
The Popularity Papers: Book Two: The Long-Distance Dispatch Between Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang Amy Ignatow
Wolf Mark Joseph Bruchac
Lost and Found: Three by Shaun Tan Shaun Tan
Hush Eishes Chayil
Twilight of Avalon: A Novel of Trystan & Isolde Anna Elliot
Queen of Babble Meg Cabot
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing: A Novel Jasper Fforde
Jack of Fables Vol. 8: The Fulminate Blade Bill Willingham
Fury of the Phoenix Cindy Pon



So, any books you want me to review first? Any burning questions? ASK AWAY!

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Weekly Geeks

Lots of questions this week about books and school:

What's your favorite bookish school memory?

I love love love the way my elementary school did its reading rewards program (Right to Read). You had to give so many book reports and then you got a certificate. And then you did more and you got a white ribbon. Then a red one. Then a blue one. Then a HUGE pink one. (The colors might be off, and I can't remember if there were 4 or 5 ribbons total, except I'm sure about that huge pink one. It was the final reward and HUGE. Well, the old skool ones were. I think it wasn't as awesome when I finally got mine.) The thing is, the school kept all of them until you left the school or graduated. You started in 1st grade and if you read enough to get the pink ribbon, you were in 6th grade by the time it happened. All the classrooms had their Right to Read stuff displayed, usually in the hallway, so when you walked through the school, you could see what was coming next. Every few months the principal or someone came to hand out Right to Read rewards. In addition to the certificate/ribbon, you got some trinkets and THE BEST PART OF ALL-- The free personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.

As a kid, I loved the goal of that huge pink ribbon and all that yummy yummy pizza.

As an adult, I love that the program lasted all 6 years and continued on and built throughout your school years.


Did your teacher read aloud to you? Do you remember what book it was?

Some did. I remember Mrs. Wisneski read us Where the Red Fern Grows. Someone also read us Hatchet.

Do you remember what books you checked out at the school library?

In junior and senior high, I only used the school library for research. But I remember getting a lot of Shel Silverstein poetry from my elementary school library.

What was one of the first book reports you did for school?

Hop on Pop

Do you have a favorite book or author that you first heard about from a teacher or school project?

My favorite author is Mo Yan, who I first discovered when I was assigned Red Sorghum: A Novel of China in college. High school English classes are where I discovered Steinbeck, Vonnegut, and Fitzgerald. That's also where I discovered one of my favorite books of all time, As I Lay Dying.

Do you have a not-so-pleasant bookish memory from your school days?

Lord of the Flies. Let's just leave it at that.


Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Weekly Geeks

I haven't participated in a Weekly Geeks Meme in a long time (too long!)

This week's question asks:

What book/novel would you suggest for someone like me, someone interested in learning about your state, city and/or country? What book do you think is perfect for presenting the history and culture of your place of residence in the most perfect and interesting way?

My problem is that most novels that take place in DC are political thrillers. Exciting, yes, but not the most accurate portrayal of life in the area. I mean, I've lived here for 6 years and I've never stopped a spy plot, blown anything up, or brought down a corrupt politician. My day-to-day life experiences that tend not to happen elsewhere involve being late to work because I'm caught behind someone's motorcade. Or seeing random politicians and talking heads while walking down the street. Even more common are being pissed off by clueless tourists or having my plans messed up because protests are closing down streets I want to drive on.

But I have lived other places.

For a great look into life in urban China, check out Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China or Michael Meyer's The Last Days of Old Beijing: Life in the Vanishing Backstreets of a City Transformed.

When I lived in Manchester, I lived in a largely Pakistani neighborhood. Coupled with current events at the time made me think a lot about the changing notions of British identity in the UK today. I think White Teeth by Zadie Smith captures these issues really well. Although it's historical fiction, Small Island by Andrea Levy explores these same issues even better.


Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Weekly Geeks: Graphic Novels

This week's Weekly Geeks evokes strong opinions in me, so I HAD to answer it!

Do you read graphic novels or memoirs? Who are your favorite authors? Which books do you recommend?

If you haven't read any, why not?

Some people have the impression that graphic novels are glorified comic books, are unsophisticated or don't qualify as "serious" literature. What do you think? If you track your book numbers, do you count a graphic novel as a book read?

I read a lot of graphic novels. My favorite authors are Bill Willingham, Jennifer Holm, Sara Varon, and Marjane Satrapi. Many of my favorite words-only-book authors such as Shanon Hale, Meg Cabot, and Holly Black have also come out with graphic novels. Also, let's not forget that Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, which changed comic books.

As for which titles I recommend, it depends on what you like to read. One thing to remember is that graphic novels are a FORMAT, not a genre. Any genre you find in words-only novels, you can find in graphic novels. If you're looking for titles to prove to people the worth of graphic novels, then I'd start people with Maus (both volumes) or Persepolis (both volumes). Alice In Sunderland or The Arrival are also good to show what the format can do, although I wouldn't start someone on Sunderland.

If you want excellent stories, excellent art, and excellent production, it's hard to go wrong with anything that First Second puts out.

Now as to whether or not they are worthy literature or just "glorified comic books," I have to reject the premise of the question. Take Sandman for instance. It was written by Neil Gaiman! And excellent series of books (although it wasn't until the later volumes that I fully understood its complete and utter genius.) But it's not a glorified comic book. It's actually a comic book. The volumes you buy from a bookstore are omnibus editions of multiple issues bound together. I am OBSESSED with the Fables series (written by Bill Willingham, who worked on Sandman, which you can tell in the way that odd plot points or characters come back to haunt the story 5 years later.) I acquire and read them in omnibus form, but they are comic books. (And when I say comic books here, I mean published serially, all paperback, usually bound with staples, and distributed through shops specializing in comic books)

When one says "graphic novel" they think of the one-shot, stand-alone title. It is, however, interesting to note that most authors and artists who work with this format use the word "comics" to describe what they are doing, whether it's an issue of X-Men, or a deeply personal memoir. And I think they do this because they recognize that the lines of distinction aren't that important. You can make silly one-off filled with lots of things blowing up, and you can make a serial that meets the standards of "high literature." Format, not genre.

There are many, many, many books without pictures that aren't serious literature. There are many comic books the same way. (And I'll spare you my ramblings on the importance of reading unsophisticated, un-serious literature.) But there are also several books without pictures that are deep and serious and change your world view. Same with comic books.

Once again, it's a format, not a genre.

And if the book is over 100 pages, it totally gets counted as read. Why wouldn't it?

Links to Amazon are an affiliate link. You can help support Biblio File by purchasing any item (not just the one linked to!) through these links. Read my full disclosure statement.

Weekly Geeks! 2-in-1 Special Edition

Last week's Weekly Geeks was asking for recommendations.

Abby's been waffling about NaNo this year. I'm not waffling. I have an idea. My only waffle is how many characters are in my group of friends. And what their names are.

But, I'm still thinking about last year's NaNo (and the one before that. And the one before that.) The earlier ones I have ideas on how to fix. Last year's though... I really like the concept and want to continue to play in this world I built. BUT! It turns out I can't write political and court intrigue. AT ALL. So, maybe if I read more books that handled such things really well (especially political and court intrigue set in medieval or slightly fantasy-esque) then I could get some ideas on how to fix my NaNo, so... if you have some titles, lay 'em on me.

This week asks us about the tricks of the trade to help us with our blogging. I'd be lost with out 2 things:

1. My reading notebooks (I did a post about my reading journal last spring, when I was looking for a new one. I also just have a small notebook that I can jot down thoughts and awesome quotations as I read)

2. My GoogleDocs spread sheets. Books to review, ARCS to read, challenge lists, books to read etc etc)

I am an avid user of LibraryThing, but I use that to organize the books I own, which doesn't always relate to the books I read.

But, what keeps me going isn't my reading journal or my obsessively color-coded spread sheets. Those are actually rather recent additions to my blogging life. What makes me keep going is you, dear reader. (Yeah, I'm going there. Sorry for the schmaltz.) After the super-inspiring kidlit conference this weekend, it really affirmed how important the community is for me. It's why I started blogging in the first place. If the knitting bloggers were such a cool community, surely there were book people blogging, too! And there were. It took me a while to find my place and to find my friends, but here I am and here you are and that's why I'm sticking around.

Weekly Geeks!

This week's Weekly Geeks is to catch up on your reviews. This is a repeat from last summer, when I also participated.

The rules are this:

I tell you all the books I've read but haven't reviewed yet, and then you ask me questions about the books, and then when I review them, I'll answer your questions.

Embarrassingly enough, you'll notice that there are several titles on this list that were on the one last year, too. Because I'm that behind... oiy. (72 unreviewed titles! SEVENTY TWO! Obviously, I need your help!)

The date refers to when I read the book. I'll also say that I actually have written reviews of many of the more recent books I've read, I just haven't posted the review, but if you have questions, I want to hear (well, read) them!

April 2007

Junie B Jones, Dumb Bunny Barbara Parks
From a Crooked Rib Nuruddin Farah
Special Topics in Calamity Physics Marisha Pessl
Exit A Anthony Swofford
Midnight at the Dragon Cafe Judy Fong Bates
Name Me Nobody Lois-ann Yamanaka

May 2007

Chicks with Sticks: Knit 2 together Elizabeth Lenhard

September 2007

Drina Dances in Paris Jean Estoril
Drina Dances in Madiera Jean Estoril
Drina Dances in Switzerland Jean Estoril
Drina Dances on Tour Jean Estoril
Drina Ballerina Jean Estoril

January 2008

Murder of Bindy MacKenzie Jaclyn Moriarty
Spell Book of Listen Taylor Jaclyn Moriarty
Regarding the Bees Kate Klise

February 2008

Tithe Holly Black

April 2008

Shopgirl Steve Martin

July 2008

An Order of Amelie, Hold the Fries Nina Schindler and Robert Barrett

August 2008

Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds Paul Zindel
Feeling Sorry for Celia (reread) Jaclyn Moriarty
Year of Secret Assignments (reread) Jaclyn Moriarty
Toning the Sweep Angela Johnson
Nothing but the Truth (reread) Avi
Cathy's Book If Found Call 650-266-8233 Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman
Shooter Walter Dean Myers
Regarding the Fountain (reread) Kate Klise
Princess Alyss of Wonderland Frank Beddor
Middle School is Worse than Meatloaf Jennifer Holm
The Specialists: Winning Element Shannon Greenland
The Specialists: Native Tongue Shannon Greenland

October 2008

Hatter M Frank Beddor

December 2008

Tales of Beedle the Bard JK Rowling
Token Alisa Kwitney and Joelle Jones

February 2009

Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks E. Lockhart

March 2009

Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris R. L. LaFevers
Into the Wild Sarah Beth Durst
Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls Elisa Primavera
Red Poppies Alai

April 2009

Gold Lady Grace Cavendish
Sisters Grimm: Everafter War Michael Buckley
I Want Candy Kim Wong Keltner
Racketty-Packetty House Frances Hodgson Burnett
Moon Opera Bi Feiyu
Bluford High: Lost and Found Anne Scraff
Got Fangs? Katie Maxwell
Beacon Street Girls: Worst Enemies/Best Friends Annie Bryant
Repossessed A. M. Jenkins
Oh.My.Gods Tera Lynn Childs
Celebutantes: On the Avenue Antonio Pagliarulo
Tender Morsels Margo Lanagan
Frog Princess E. D. Baker

May 2009

Hunger Games Suzanne Collins
Coldest Winter Ever Sister Souljah
Hotlanta Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller
Secret Life of Samantha MacGregor: Bad Connection Melody Carlson
The Poison Apples Lily Archer
Chosen One Carol Lynch Williams
Confessions of a Triple Shot Betty Jody Gehrman
Golden Jennifer Barnes
The Season Sarah MacLean

June 2009

Forest of Hands and Teeth Carrie Ryan
Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire (maybe) Kimberly Pauley
Dead is So Last Year Marlene Perez
Sister Wife Shelley Hrdlitschka
Don't Judge a Girl by her Cover Ally Carter
Fever, 1793 Laurie Halse Anderson

ASK AWAY!

Weekly Geeks 2009-10: OH! MY EYES! Edition

This week's Weekly Geeks asks us:

Worst movie adaptations: The recent release of Watchmen based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore got me thinking about what I thought were the worst movie adaptations of books. What book or books did a director or directors completely ruin in the adaptation(s) that you wish you could "unsee," and why in your opinion, what made it or them so bad in contrast to the book or books?

This is such an easy one for me to answer, but I think film buffs might hit me.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

I know it won every Academy Award Ever (including Best Adapted Screenplay). And you know what? It might be a great film, but it is an absolutely HORRIBLE adaptation of the book. And I love that book.

My entire junior year English class agrees with me. We all read the book, and then we got to see the film so our brains could recover after the AP exams. Afterwards we were all like "wait, WHAT WAS THAT?!"

To be fair, it's hard to create a movie based the narration from a character who never talks and keeps going to shock therapy, but... still. Everything that made the book totally wonderful didn't really exist in the movie. They got the plot right but they forgot the magic.

Compared to the book that movie absolutely SUCKS.

--I would like to point out that I haven't read the book or seen the movie since junior year. That was 11 years ago. Plus, my brain was recovering from the AP exams. Some finer points might be fuzzy.

Weekly Geeks

What's in a name? This week on weekly geeks, we're talking about the meaning behind character names. And our own names...

So, my name is Jennifer, which is Welsh (Gwenhwyfar) and is related to Guinevere. It means fair one or white wave, depending on what book you're looking at. (And fair one works, I'm pretty pasty!)

So, favorite character names...

Ginny Weasley is a favorite of mine AND her name and my name are really close (in fact, in some parts of the country, people can't hear or say the difference between Ginny and Jennie. Trust me, i they are NOT pronounced the same way!) Anyway. Ginny's full name is Ginevra. Some sites give it the same meaning and history as Jennifer. Some say that it's Ancient Germanic meaning "Women of the people."

Now, I've been reading the Alice books lately. Alice means of noble kind/noble sort. While Alice isn't nobility (she's far from rich) I would say that her spirit is noble.

What about Annika, the narrator of Kiki Strike? It looks like it's from the Hebrew, Channah (or Hannah) and means grace.

And how about Lyle, of crocodile fame? Apparently, his name comes from the French and means Island, or Islander!

Weekly Geeks!

I also try to be a weekly geek (I mean, I do geek out daily in my own special way) but I never seem to get around to it.

BUT! HA! Better late than never, right? This week we're talking book covers. I'm going to talk about consistency within a series. I'm a big fan of consistency. I like the books on my shelf to match and am not happy when a series changes look half way through. I mean, read my rants here and here about the Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series.

And Georgia's where I'm going to start, because I wasn't originally a fan of the new covers. When I started reading, the covers all looked like this:



But, when Then He Ate My Boy Entrancers went to paperback, they changed cover designs. Now the first 4 books (pictured above) look like this:



Now, it's been a few years, and the new covers are starting to grow on me. I like that they incorporate Angus (the cat) on every cover, because he is a big part of every book. I especially like the new cover for Dancing in My Nuddy-Pants, because the romantic shadow on the wall is that of two cats. It's subtle and funny once you read the book (although the old cover, check out the man in the moon--it's two kissing cats!) I miss the old covers, but I do think the new ones will appeal to more teens today. I still, however, insist that those nunga nungas would not knock anyone out.

Despite my fuddy-duddy DON'T CHANGE THE BOOK COVER ways, sometimes it's necessary. I've been reading the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor (expect a big review this weekend or next week.)

Now, Naylor started writing the Alice books in the mid-80s and the series is ongoing. The old covers needed to go. However, they then changed the covers again and the newest ones are fine, but the older ones are still good. Here's the progression for Alice in Rapture, Sort Of.



And! Some of the newer titles/those featuring an older Alice, have totally different covers! (I'm judging entire remakes based on the "Alice" logo, which is consistent across books, but changes when they redesign the overall package)

Now, these two versions of Including Alice are pretty similar, to the point where I think both pictures were taken in the same photoshoot--the model is wearing the same top! But, I think they're both paperbacks...:



There's a bigger difference between these two paperback versions of Alice in April



And a really big difference between these two paperback versions of


The big thing I can see with the newer editions of the Alice books is that each cover seems to look like it's for an older audience than the older cover. I'm wondering why this is. Alice has always been a very controversial series (Alice thinks about sex a lot. Not that she wants to have a lot of it, but just that's she's naturally very curious about this thing that no one talks about.) So, are the publishers trying to push it into older hands by making the covers look older?

Or is it because kids like to read "up"--reading about characters older than they are and books that look older. So are the publishers aging up the covers so that the kids who are Alice's age (she ages a year every 3 books) won't think they're too babyish based on the cover?

Also, some of the covers needed to change. The illustrated version of Alice in Rapture, Sort of needed to go. But the middle one is the right age for Alice. The newer one of the heart in the beach, while technically age ambiguous, makes it feel like it's for a much older reader. The newer version of Simply Alice looks more like how old Alice should be. She's 15 and a sophomore in high school in that book--the older one just looks too young. On the other hand, the newer Alice in April might be too old, as the older one (where you can see her face) looks about the right age.

What are your thoughts?