TGIF: Emotional Reading
People, it is Friday, which means it is almost the weekend, which means I can lock myself in my room and read City of Fallen Angels without being interrupted by things like needing to sleep and work.
But before the glorious weekend begins, Ginger over at G Reads has asked:
Do you get emotional when you read? Which books had you in tears?
I quite literally laughed out loud when Ginger sent the question to me because I had JUST posted my review of Gayle Forman’s Where She Went, (enter my giveaway!) which I sobbed through. So, my answer is YES I get super emotional when I read. Probably too emotional. For some reason, books really get to me.
Anyway, I’ve made a list of notable books that have made me cry. I hope it makes you, um, not cry.
First Book I Remember Crying Through: Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne.
First Book to Make Me Cry in Class: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
There I was, sitting in my AP Lit class as a sophomore in high school in the first week of school. We had a surprise substitute, which meant we had a “reading day,” but I was already caught up with where we were supposed to read to, so I read on, and got to a very sad part where a character I liked mucho was killed, and thus, I cried. Uncontrollably. I am not one of those people who is an attractive crier. I get all splotchy and my eyes basically swell shut and my nose somehow gets bigger. It is BAD. I was mortified.
First Book to Make Me Cry on an Airplane: Stop in the Name of Pants by Louise Rennison
So, this explanation is a bit weird because the Georgia Nicolson series is HYSTERICAL. But, there’s a place in this book where a character thinks that his/her beloved pet is going to die. I’m very much a pet person, and it really got to me. So there I sat on an airplane, willing myself to not cry. It didn’t work. The flight attendant tried to comfort me, and I had to tell her I was crying over an impending fictional pet death. Turns out that the pet doesn’t even die.
First Book to Make Me Cry So Hard it Gave Me a Migraine: New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
I lost my ever-lovin’ mind reading this. That whole part where you turn pages and only the names of months are listed = escalated tear spillage with each page. The whole adrenaline-junkie bit [you know, the one that is oh-so laughable in the movie?] made me bawl. And–OMG–when Alice comes to get Bella and take her to Italy because of her vision? Forget it. I know some of you are thinking, “This girl is emotionally unstable,” and let me defend myself for a moment. I read this book DIRECTLY after a really, really tough break-up and I had been SO ANGRY with him and the whole situation that I hadn’t let myself work through it. So New Moon was my catharsis.
Now that you have proof that I am a crazy lady with haywire emotions, I hope that you have a tear-free weekend full of joy and laughter and sunshine and rainbows and chocolate. TGIF!!
Waiting on Wednesday: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Title: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer
Author: Michelle Hodkin
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
Pub Date: September 27, 2011
Mara Dyer doesn’t believe life can get any stranger than waking up in a hospital with no memory of how she got there. It can.
She believes there must be more to the accident she can’t remember that killed her friends and left her strangely unharmed. There is.
She doesn’t believe that after everything she’s been through, she can fall in love. She’s wrong.–Goodreads
Mostly, I dig the title. I am a sucker for titles full of foreshadowy drama. I actually saw the title to this book first. And then I looked it up on Goodreads and saw the STATEMENT COVER and read the description and just thought “Yes, Yes, YES!!!!”
What are you waiting on this Wednesday? Hmmmm?
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
Tune in Tuesday: Sara Bareilles
Tune in Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Ginger at GReads!
This particular Tuesday I am diggin’ on “King of Anything” by the lovely, awesome, spunky Sara Bareilles. I think she’s brilliant, what with the songwriting and piano playing and suspenders-wearing.
She can also straight-up sing. Check out her live version of “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” to see what I mean.
And now listen to her cover of The Beatles “Oh Darlin'”
Alright, I’m done! And now I want to know what you are listening to this week! *stares at you until you comment*
Review & Giveaway: Where She Went
Title: Where She Went
Author: Gayle Forman
Publisher: Dutton Books
Pub Date: April 5, 2011
Format: ARC, sent from publisher (Thank you SO MUCH!!)
This is one of those books that I don’t even really know how to “review.” I don’t even really think of it as a book–it’s more of an experience. It’s emotional, it’s physical, it somehow reaches down into your body and demands a reaction. I didn’t even realize I was giving it a reaction until I was crying so hard I couldn’t read for the tears.
Yep, people, this is a book that will make you emo. But also warm and fuzzy, in a weird, teary way. And despite the fact that I have no idea how to convey how beautiful this book is, I will try.
The sequel to the heart-wrenching If I Stay (told from Mia’s perspective), Where She Went (told from Adam’s perspective) picks up the story of Mia and Adam three years after the accident, after the grief has been accepted, and after the pain has dulled. Or at least, that’s what Adam thinks. But when an aggressive and enterprising reporter tries to find out who the “real Adam Wilde” is (his band, Shooting Star, is now legit and he is super famous), she digs around in his past and makes the connection that he and Mia went to the same high school and were more than just friends, a fact that both he and the band have bent over backward to keep out of the press. After a response in typical rock star-style, Adam storms out of the interview and into the streets of Manhattan.
As Adam walks to blow off steam and clear his head, he just so happens to find himself in front of Carnegie Hall, where Mia just so happens to be playing that very night as part of the esteemed Young Artists Series. And because Adam is a masochist, he buys a ticket to see her play, and then she invites him backstage, and then. *eyes glimmer with knowing*
I refuse to tell you, because you, reader, are hereby charged to get thee to the nearest bookstore and buy at least two copies of this book, because you will WANT to give it to someone. And you’ll want your own copy. (Duh.) Anyway, to give you a hint of what was going on with me while I was reading, here are my tweets from the night I read this book. (read from the bottom up. Or don’t. You choose!)
Yeahhhhhh. This one is a doozy. I read both If I Stay and Where She Went in one sitting each, and for some insane reason If I Stay didn’t affect me as much as Where She Went did. It’s a perfect sequel. I mean that. And I really don’t know what else to say.
Oh, yes I do! If you are in or around NYC tonight, the brilliant Gayle Forman is having a release party at the Brooklyn Barnes & Noble from 7-9. Yes, TONIGHT! I will be there, with bells on. Rachel from Bookshelf Lustwill be there toooooo. So, come hang out with us. We’re fun.
Top 10 Tuesday: Book Covers I Wish I Could Redesign
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the lovely, lovely ladies over at The Broke and The Bookish. The topic du semaine this time around is book covers we wish we could redesign.
Oh boy. I’m about to hate on a bunch of books that I like (or will probs like) a whole, whole, whole bunch.
But before I begin, I would like to say this: I am not a graphic designer. I can barely do more than crop a picture in Photoshop. I have the UTMOST respect for cover and jacket designers, because their jobs are HARD. I can’t imagine doing it because there are just so many dadgum people to please and an entire audience to attract and…that’s just a lot to deal with. Anyway. I just wanted to say that before I viciously attack some covers.
But now that it has been said, the claws are officially coming out, WOLVERINE-STYLE.
1. White Cat by Holly Black
First up is White Cat, a book whose words I adore, but whose cover I think looks so damn cheesy. I’m pretty sure it’s the red cover smoke’s fault…although I like that it covers his eyes. And I want to fix the dude’s hair. Hmm. Maybe if it was just the cat I’d like it more? [But then that would be misleading because people would be all “KITTY!!!!!!” and then give the book to their 7-year-old niece and then all hell would break loose.] I don’t know what I would do with this. Maybe if it was just the cat’s face and it was staring out at you unblinkingly so that it’s a bit creepy. Sure, that would work. (Right?)
2. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
I love Maureen Johnson. LOVE HER. And I am SUPER PUMPED about her upcoming mystery/thriller The Name of the Star. But when she joyously revealed the cover, I was SO DISAPPOINTED. I don’t necessarily know why I’m disappointed, but I am. I think I’d be happier with it if the guy was not shadowy, and was, like, standing over her or ominously chillin’ in the background. But I wouldn’t want to see his face. But, then again, I only have the vaguest idea what this book is about, so maybe once I read it this cover will make more sense. But then…doesn’t that kind of make the point of the fact that there is a cover image moot? Le sigh.
3. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
I know, I know I’m officially a social pariah. This cover made a humungo splash and everyone was oh-so happy with it . . . but I think it’s weird. The colors aren’t attractive, and it’s a strange deviation from the other books in the series because of the presence of two people on the cover and the fact that you can see Clary’s face. I realize that I’m in the minority here, and that’s alright. If I could redesign it, I think I’d just have Simon on the cover. Yeah. SIMON. *crosses arms over chest, gangsta-style*
4. Angelfire by Courtney Alison Moulton
First of all, the chick on the cover looks like a girl I know IRL whom I dislike greatly. Second of all, there is weird cover smoke. I apparently hate cover smoke. (except for on Looking for Alaska. That cover smoke is INSPIRED.) Other than that, I like it. If I were going to redesign it, I’d probably just have her with the awesome weapon-thingamajigger and a black background. The pink in the title and her lovely red hair would really pop then. And she would look all foreboding and badass. 🙂
5. Paper Towns (Hardcover version) by John Green
I ALL KINDS OF DISLIKE THESE COVERS. Yes, the plot of the book is driven by the disappearance of a girl, but. I don’t know. These just turn me off. The only reason I read the book is out of my devotion to one John Green (heyyyy there) and I’m glad I read it because it is AWESOME, but if I knew nothing of Mr. Green, I would have never, ever, ever picked this up. That being said, I ALL KINDS OF DIG the paperback cover.
6. Stupid, rotten, no good Twilight one-off covers
*shakes with rage*
7. The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (paperback) by E. Lockhart
When compared to the hardcover version of this book (right), the paperback design looks sophomoric. The hardcover design is subtle, cheeky even, while the paperback looks cheap, dumb, and like every other book about a girl in a boarding school ever written. Except this particular girl apparently doesn’t own a brush. I love this stinkin’ book so stinkin’ much that I don’t want people to pass it by due to the horrid, horrid paperback cover and their inability to see beyond the cover. Why couldn’t they just use the hardcover art as the paperback art?! *BETHIE ANGRY* *begins to turn green*
8. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
I really, really wish that the bottom half with the blurry faces that make it seem like dude man is sucking on girl’s cheek would go bye bye. If the text was centered, and the background was just black or gray or some such color I’d probably like it more. Although it would need some sort of brighter accent color, huh? For, you know, color accenting purposes. Maybe have something music-related on the front? Or if it were an ipod and the screen had the text on it?! Oh God, that’s bad. People, that, RIGHT THERE, is why I edit text and do not design images.
9. I Am Number Four by [mothereffing] Pittacus Lore
This cover is dumb. Just put Alex Pettyfer on the front and be done with it. (I think they did do that with the movie tie in cover? I didn’t pay enough to attention to find this out. Nor do I care enough to Google.) I don’t know why they didn’t do that in the first place–it’s not like they didn’t know he was cast when it was being published since mothereffing James Frey sold it as both a screenplay and as a book at the same time, and then when the screenwriters made edits, he made edits to the manuscript like that was just fiiiine for him to do. *begins to turn green again*
10. My head hurts from thinking about James Frey. So, I’m going to quit and go to my happy place (currently: with Anna and St. Clair in Paris.)
Bethany Larson 
