Poetry Project Mid-Year Reflection

The Poetry Project is hosted by Regular Rumination and The Written World.

1) What has been the most rewarding aspect of The Poetry Project so far?

Reading poetry again, sticking to a blogging schedule, and reigniting my love for writing poetry
 
2) What is your favorite post from a fellow Poetry Project participant this year?

Lu's How to Love a Poem
Nancy's [Readings in Philippine Literature: Poetry #3] Filipino poets on the "burning" power of love (with Pulitzer Prize in Poetry winners as guests)

3) What is your favorite poem that you have read because of The Poetry Project?

It was impossible to choose just one!  The Poetry Project has introduced me to lots of fantastic poetry and poets - some old, some new.  Surprisingly since I am not a fan of Halloween or "scary" motifs in general, most of my favorite poems came from the October round-up.

A Spiral Notebook by Ted Kooser
Wind by Ted Hughes
Cemetery by Marra PL. Lanot
Haunted Houses by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

4) What are some poetry-related goals you’d like to set for the coming year?

1. read a little poetry at least once a week
2. read more new/modern poets
3. work through some of my favorite poets' canons (Pablo Neruda, Anne Sexton)
4. write more poetry - as the new year begins, I am planning on beginning a new feature on my blog called "Scripted Verses" where I post an original poem every Friday. 

5) Do you have any suggestions for The Poetry Project in 2013? What would you like to see happen?

I would like to see monthly themes dedicated to the most unusual poem you've ever read or a poem translated from a different language or your favorite poem from childhood.  As a child, I was partial to "The Purple Cow" by Gelett Burgess, "Sick" by Shel Silverstien, and "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" by Emily Dickinson.

6) Share with us one line of poetry that you think we need to read.

I've already shared one of my favorite lines from a Pablo Neruda poem here when I began this project, but here are some other favorites lines and poems I recommend:

Gibbons Ruark's "To The Swallows of Viterbo"

The flawed hinges of our shoulders shine

Gibbons Ruark's "Basil" (posted with commentary by poet Kathryn Stripling Byer) 

Your quick hand on my face the scent of basil

I also highly recommend Michael McFee's The Smallest Talk - a collection of one line poems.  I've read this book over and over again, and I still find something to love every time.  Here's a teaser (or two): 

Dermatographia

Look how her nails spoke in tongues all over my back

Sharing Chapstick

The closest his lips may come to touching hers  

7) Is there a new poet that you have discovered through The Poetry Project?

I can always count on Snowball @ Come, Sit by the Hearth to post diverse poems and poets.

8) Anything else you would like to share?

In keeping with my first posts as part of this project where I shared my personal poetry, often inspired by the very poets whose poems I posted, I thought I would share my ode to Gibbons Ruark in the mode of "To The Swallows of Viterbo"; also, keep an eye out for more of my original poems.  I plan on posting one every Friday in the New Year. 

To the Swallows                                                                                 

We are all angels fallen down,

Gingerly feeling the points where our

Wings once sprouted, reminders rounded

And hunched in a menacing glower,

Warning others to stay away.

These “flawed hinges of our shoulders”

That one poet once enshrined lay

On our backs like Atlas’s boulders;

A heavy burden we all carry

As a result of our swift tumble

From grace that left us frightened and wary

Of loving another and fumbling

Our way through life knowing something

Is just out of reach or missing.    

The Raven Boys by Maggie Steifvater

*Warning* Spoilers ahead!

From Goodreads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

"It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore."

Unlike Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, which feels realistic even though the plot centers around killer water horses, The Raven Boys is the stuff of legend and myth.  Blue comes from a long line of psychics - the real deal, which is ultimately the catalyst for her interactions with The Raven Boys - a group she normally avoids.  However, Gansey, Adam, Ronan, and Noah are not the typical prep school type.  Each is consumed with his own personal demons, but it's Gansey's quest that binds them all together.  For most of his young life, Gansey has been obsessed with finding the sleeping King Glendower.  His travels have taken him all over the world tracking intersecting lines of energy called ley lines.  His copious research led him to the tiny town of Henrietta, Virginia where his path crosses Blue's, a girl born of a psychic but who is not one herself; however, she has the uncanny ability to amplify psychic energy.

Although I've rapidly lost interest in the sudden surge of paranormal fiction flooding the YA shelves, Stiefvater's novel(s) still appeal to me mostly because despite the odd occurrences or presence of fantastical creatures, the stories cannot be classified as paranormal.  Instead, they are the perfect blend of legend, myth, and folklore.  It's King Arthur for the modern age.  It's hard not to get caught up in the Raven Boys' quest, and at times, the predictions and ghostly apparitions the boys and Blue encounter had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.  Stiefvater knows how to keep you guessing in this novel - sometimes a little too well.  The last few chapters speed by with very few resolutions, evoking more questions than answers for the reader.  Since The Raven Boys is the first in a cycle, I understand that Steifvater is setting up the plot and the reader for book two; however, I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I find Steifvater to be at her best in her standalones when she is not concerned with leaving enough loose ends to tie up in another book or two.  Although I think Steifvater could have effectively condensed the plot of The Raven Boys to one novel with an open-ended conclusion a la Forever, I am still eagerly awaiting the release of book two. 

Most notably I am awaiting resolution of the weird, almost non-existent love triangle between Blue, Gansey, and Adam.  It's a stated fact, if you believe a whole hosts of psychics and visions, that Blue is going to kill her first love. Although it's unclear how, it's clear that somehow Gansey is involved.  Assumption number 1: Gansey will be her first love.  But no, Blue meets Adam and so begins their awkward, innocent, but totally adorable flirtation, and I as a reader was rooting for them.  Blue's relationship with both boys remains in it's infancy - she's not used to getting intimate - so it's unclear how things are going to progress.  Will they parallel the prophecy that has overshadowed her entire life and the vision that recently turned her life upside down, or will fate intervene leading her and The Raven Boys down a path they never could have imagined in their wildest dreams?  And do they have some wild dreams.  Stiefvater hints with the last line of the first novel in this cycle that the next book will deal with the power of dreams - dreams that you can manipulate and can become tangible.

As the main characters, Blue, Gansey, and Adam are very well-developed, but the supporting characters are equally intriguing if only for the unanswered questions Stiefvater leaves the reader with.  When I first met Noah, I knew something was up.  He is a character defined by absence and abstienance.  He doesn't eat; he doesn't seem to sleep; he merely exists on the fringes of the boys' foursome.  In fact, I wondered why Stiefvater bothered to pen him at all.  He seemed a character of little value to the narrative, but when his death is acknowledged, he becomes more present and an integral witness and guide to the quest.  He seems to have fulfilled his role though by the end of the first book, so I wonder how and if he will reappear in the second.  Ronan Lynch also remains a mystery.  In my mind, he is the most intriguing character.  All dark and sharp edges, Ronan is caring around some heavy baggage in the form of a secret surrounding his dad's death.  Ronan also seems in touch with some primordial magic that even Gansey with all his study and Blue with her connections to the spiritual world do not possess and have yet to imagine.  The possibilities for his character seem limitless, and I'm eager to see how Stiefvater will develop him further.

This book is an irresistible, strange journey, highlighting a writer at the pinnacle of her career.  I have not read Stiefvater's first faerie novels, but I have read all of her published works in order since Shiver and watched her style evolve into the accomplishment that is The Raven Boys.  It is a book I highly recommend for readers on a quest for something magical.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore was the surprise of the year for me.  I had heard rumblings about it but wasn't fully committed to investigating it further until my librarian recommended it to me.  The day before we left for Christmas break she called me down to the library to pursue the new shipment of books she had acquired, so I could pick my holiday reading.  Sloan's novel was there as well as Ally Condie's Matched and Crossed, which have been on my TBR forever, so I snapped them up.  I decided I needed a little break from YA and series, so I picked up Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore first.  I didn't really know what it was about, but as Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner recently wrote, there is a beauty in going in blind - no expectations, and what I found on the other side was fascinating, slightly mysterious, and overall satisfying.  The only book I read this year besides Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl that was so compelling I read it in a day, this novel is a brilliant commentary on the intersection of print and web-based technologies and the dangers of dependency on both.

The novel follows main character Clay Jannon, a fledgling designer, through his ordinary life dealing with ordinary things like layoffs, job searches, roommates, and relationships, but all of that changes when, on a whim, he enters Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, whose front window boosts a "We're Hiring" sign.  Immediately, Clay is intrigued if confused by the store's shape, size, and contents - most of which are books he's never seen or heard of - as well as its mysterious owner, Mr. Penumbra.  Clay takes the night shift, which brings him in contact with Mr. Penumbra's many colorful patrons as well as Kat, a self-proclaimed Googler, and when his curiosity gets the better of him, he is plunged into a world of cryptic texts, secret societies, and archaic methods of coding and decoding.  Can Clay and his friends convince Mr. Penumbra and his patrons that technology can help them on their quest?  Can they uncover the secret to immortality encoded by "The Founder" hundreds of years ago?

This book is a mish-mash of genres that blend into a seamless commentary on our ever evolving relationship with technology.  It's part typographer's Bible, archeology dig, Hardy Boys mystery, literary criticism, and techie manual.  The novel highlights the power of following your instincts and daring to make a mark on the world. In his epilogue, Sloan brings the book full-circle and reflects on some of its more philosophical aspects.  Almost like a challenge to the reader, he writes, "But I hope you will remember this: A man walking fast down a dark lonely street.  Quick steps and hard breathing, all wonder and need.  A bell above a door and the tinkle it makes.  A clerk and a ladder and warm golden light, and then: the right book exactly, at exactly the right time" (288).  Ultimately, it is about the saving power of literature - how it can make you climb out of yourself - how it can sustain you. 

If you're not yet convinced that you need to read this book, I leave you now with my favorite quote from the novel: 

"Neel takes a sharp breath and I know exactly what it means.  It means: I have waited my whole life to walk through a secret passage built into a bookshelf" (143).

Sloan's novel is that secret passage in the bookshelf that so many of us have longed for but have yet to find.

Best matched with bibliophiles and techies.

A Christmas Carol (For My Godchildren) by Christina Rossetti

I read an abbreviated version of this poem in my church's Advent Devotional and thought it was a lovely proclamation of the Christmas spirit as well as a way to honor the 27 new angels in heaven sent from Connecticut last week.

A Christmas Carol (For My Godchildren)
Christina Rossetti

Source: The Poetical Works of Christina Georgina Rossetti, with a Memoir and Notes by William Michael Rossetti (1904), page 187

The Shepherds had an Angel,
The Wise Men had a star,
But what have I, a little child,
To guide me home from far,
Where glad stars sing together
And singing angels are? –

Lord Jesus is my Guardian,
So I can nothing lack:
The lambs lie in His bosom
Along life's dangerous track:
The wilful lambs that go astray
He bleeding fetches back.

Lord Jesus is my guiding star,
My beacon-light in heaven:
He leads me step by step along
The path of life uneven:
He, true light, leads me to that land
Whose day shall be as seven.

Those Shepherds through the lonely night
Sat watching by their sheep,
Until they saw the heavenly host
Who neither tire nor sleep,
All singing 'Glory glory'
In festival they keep.

Christ watches me, His little lamb,
Cares for me day and night,
That I may be His own in heaven:
So angels clad in white
Shall sing their 'Glory glory'
For my sake in the height.

The Wise Men left their country
To journey morn by morn,
With gold and frankincense and myrrh,
Because the Lord was born:
God sent a star to guide them
And sent a dream to warn.

My life is like their journey,
Their star is like God's book;
I must be like those good Wise Men
With heavenward heart and look:
But shall I give no gifts to God? –
What precious gifts they took!

Lord, I will give my love to Thee,
Than gold much costlier,
Sweeter to Thee than frankincense,
More prized than choicest myrrh:
Lord, make me dearer day by day,
Day by day holier;

Nearer and dearer day by day:
Till I my voice unite,
And I sing my 'Glory glory'
With angels clad in white;
All 'Glory glory' given to Thee
Through all the heavenly height.

6 October 1856

Posted for The Poetry Project hosted by Regular Rumination and The Written World

Reading Challenge: Outside the Box 2013

I still consider myself a blogging newbie.  I began this blog about a year and half ago after considering it for a good six months or more.  I've participated in memes like The Broke and The Bookish's Top Ten Tuesdays and Regular Rumination and The Written World's Poetry Project, both of which have kept me blogging regularly when I didn't have the time or energy for full-blown reviews.  However, I've never participated in a reading challenge.  A few days ago, I stumbled across a year long challenge hosted by Kate at Musings of a Book Lover, and it seemed like the perfect challenge to get me started.  It's unique yet low key and customizable, which seems doable with my busy work schedule.  The challenge is called "Outside the Box" and encourages readers to pursue books outside of their comfort zone.  I'm shooting for "No Box can Contain Me!" by participating in all 13 mini challenges.  I'm really excited to get started.  The parameters of the challenge are listed below, and if you want to join in, head on over to Musings of a Book Lover to sign up.  The more the merrier!

Image from Musings of a Book Lover

Choose your level – just how far out of the box do you want to go?

I’m a little Scared: 3-4 categories

It’s not so bad out here!:  5-7 categories

Look at me, outside my comfort zone!:  8-10 categories

No Box can Contain Me!: ALL 13!

Guidelines:

This challenge will run from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2013.   

Grand Prize Drawing will be 7 January 2014!

1. Sign up any time. Though, it’s best to do it by the 31^st of December, 2012 – that way you will have more chances to WIN! (However, sign-ups will close 1 December 2013)

2. You cannot use any books or reading material that was read before 1 January 2013 (except for #9 – but you DO have to REREAD that one to count!)

3. At the End of each month, you must post a link to your review for it to count! If you don’t have a blog, be sure to link up the review you did in GoodReads, Amazon, Library Thing, etc. We need to read your review! (There will be a one week grace period to get in the review. i.e. January 31^st rolls around and the linky will be up, but you have until 6^th of February to get your linky in!) Each review will get you a ‘token’!

4. Share the Love (PLEASE!?!) – Write your intentions on your blog, link back to this post, have the button on a side bar, so others will know what fun you are having, and they can have it too!

5.  Overlaps are okay, but the purpose of this is to try other books, not grabbing ONE book to fit four categories! You only get ONE token in for each review, so the more the merrier.

6. Comment below with how comfortable you are of climbing out of your literary box!  BUT, don’t feel you have to be tied to that level! You are shy and want to start slowly but love the feeling of the air outside of where you are…go for it!  You thought you could be a book sphere, but the box is warm and comfy, that’s okay too!

7. Be encouraging!  Sometimes it’s a little frightening coming out of your comfort zone. Go to the other participants’ sites and give them words to help free them. Offer suggestions on the best ways to climb out of the box – give them a ladder that they can use!

8. Optional – share books.  Be willing to swap books with other participants (unless they are library books, or books that are not yours, then you might find yourself in a whole other type of box, and I can’t help you then!)

9. Make sure you post your reviews every month.  Who knows, I just might have a surprise giveaway that month! 

Now… to the categories!

#1   To the Screen

Read a book that was adapted to the screen.  Try to read the book first, then see the movie – how did they compare?

#2   Another Voice

Do you typically read books that focus on a Female Character? Try a male protagonist. A male point of view usually? See what it’s like from a woman’s perspective.

#3   Opposites Attract

 Are you always reading young adult or historical fiction? Try something that would be opposite – a contemporary read for those stuck in the past, for instance.

#4   5 Star Day

Is there a book you’ve seen featured on another blog and everyone raves about it? Even if it isn’t your cup of tea – give it a try to see what the hype is all about.

#5   XyZ pdQ

You’ve seen them – ABC book challenges – well this one is light! Grab a book that has either an X, Z or Q in the title!  Too tough? Try going for the author’s name!

#6   It’s my Birthday!

So, have a party! Read a book that was published in either your birth month or birth year!

#7   From one place…

It’s neat to read a book that was first published outside of the United States (or your country – we won’t hold it against you if you don’t live in the Good Ol’ USofA).  Make sure to pull up a slang dictionary of that country, though, otherwise you will always wonder why they put the ‘kettle on the hob’ (and, no, it has nothing to do with short hairy guys with big hairy feet!)

#8   It’s All About ME!

It seems that everyone has written a memoir of one kind or another – or someone wrote about their favorite person.  Read about their life and know that yours is still marvelous, even though you didn’t climb Mt. Everest by the age of 2!

#9   Visit an Old Friend

Do you have one of those books that you tell everyone is your favorite, because of the fond memories you have when you read it eons ago?  Read it again, just to make sure it still is your Favorite!

#10  Look at the pretty pictures!

It seems that Graphic Novels are all the rage.  Check on out and see for yourself! If you have read the original, how did the graphic novel compare?

#11  She made me do it!

You read about the book on another site.  It wasn’t necessarily something that everyone raves about, but this person spoke so well of the book, you just had too! (I know, it’s kind of like #4 – but this one is special, you were moved by the blogger’s recount of the story, you just had to!) Don’t’ forget to mention who made you grab that cookie from the jar!

#12  I couldn’t help myself!

We all do it! We walk through the book store (or even one of those super stores) and it strikes you! You stop in your tracks and you have instant Cover Love! Grab it, buy it, and READ IT! Well, was it worth it?

#13  To be or Not to be…

Time to break in to that section that very few of us fear to tread!  Read a play, memorize a poem and analyze it since it’s rolling around in your head!  Give the Bard (whoever she may be!) a chance!

End of the Year Book Survey 2012

Image from The Perpetual Page Turner

Hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner

1. Best Book You Read In 2012? (You can break it down by genre if you want)

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
It could be the fact that I finished this book days ago, so it's fresh in my mind, but it is seriously the most original novel I've read this year.  It's fantastical, but not overtly so; it's romantic, but not overtly so; it's suspenseful, but not overtly so.  Basically, it's got all the things and all the feelings in just the right amounts.  No one plot or person or emotion overshadows the other.  Also, it's a standalone, which I was definitely needing.  I need a break from series (although I did just start The Raven Boys...).

2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
It will take more than mediocre political fiction to shake my faith in J. K. Rowling.  I really hope this book was a fluke. 

3. Most surprising (in a good way!) book of 2012? 

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater  
If someone had told me at the beginning of the year that I would read a book about killer water horses and not only love it but bequeath it the title of best book I read in 2012, I would have laughed at them.

4. Book you recommended to people most in 2012?

Cut by Patricia McCormick (I talk about Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Of Mice and Men, The Catcher in the Rye, Speak, The Things They Carried, and anything by Ellen Hopkins in class a lot, but I actually recommended Cut to several students this year, and they really enjoyed it.)

5. Best series you discovered in 2012?

Chaos Walking by Patrick Ness (I really need to finish that!!), and I finished Rick Riordan's The Kane Chronicles and read the newest book in The Lost Heroes trilogy. I'm really trying to get away from series because I'm tired of being locked into one for so long (The Raven Boys is my current exception).

6. Favorite new authors you discovered in 2012?

Stephen Block The Story of Forgetting
Block's heart wrenching and thoroughly researched novel about the toll diseases of the memory take on patient and family alike was one of the best pieces of adult fiction I've read in a long time.

Syrie James The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen and The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Bronte
A little fluffier than I normally go, but James did an excellent job of evoking the spirit and writing style of two of my favorite British authors, Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte, while also providing readers with a romanticized, happy ending for these classicly unromanticized heroines.

7. Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre for you?

I read a lot of dystopia this year - my favorites were probably The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness, which I described to one of my students as The Hunger Games on crack.  I read several adult books this year too, and one of the most difficult and unforgettable was The Story of Forgetting by Stephen Block. 

8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book in 2012?

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - definitely a page turner - I read this in one sitting!

9. Book You Read In 2012 That You Are Most Likely To Re-Read Next Year:

I really want to re-read Great House by Nicole Krauss.  It is such a complex book, but I think I'm ready to tackle it again.  I'll probably re-read The Hunger Games, The Scorpio Races, The Fault in Our Stars, and maybe Bumped and Thumped, but I also thought it would be fun to see what I re-read this year:
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan like I said I would last year
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky
Persuasion by Jane Austen

10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2012?

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
Bumped and Thumped by Megan McCafferty
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

11. Most memorable character in 2012? 

Puck Connelly The Scorpio Races (YA)
Amy Dunne Gone Girl (Adult)
Manchee The Knife of Never Letting Go (Animal)

12. Most beautifully written book read in 2012?

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Steifvater evokes the landscape of Thisby so beautifully, and in addition to including poets like T. S. Eliot and Wallace Stevens, Green reveals some pretty profound concepts through his characters. 

13. Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2012? 

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
It's a book about cancer, but as Hazel says in the beginning of this moving novel, "it's not a cancer book, because cancer books suck" (48).  Instead it's a book about life and love and living in the moment. 

14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2012 to finally read? 

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenger
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle 

15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2012? 

from Thumped by Megan McCafferty
from Persuasion by Jane Austen 
Anything Sean Kendrick said to Puck Connelly in The Scorpio Races (swoon)

"The Noise is a man unfiltered, and without a filter, a man is just chaos walking" (Patrick Ness, The Knife of Never Letting Go 42).  *In addition to being a pretty profound statement, this is the best titular reference since Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.

"I was thinking about the word handle, and all the unholdable things that get handled" (John Green, The Fault in Our Stars 60).

"Neel takes a sharp breath and I know exactly what it means.  It means: I have waited my whole life to walk through a secret passage built into a bookshelf" (Robin Sloan, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore 143).

16. Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2012? 

Gone by Kathleen Johnson (170)
Tilt by Ellen Hopkins (604)

17. Book That Had A Scene In It That Had You Reeling And Dying To Talk To Somebody About It? (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss, etc. etc.) Be careful of spoilers!

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
when I hit page 200 - I was like WTF!!!???

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling
It may not have been my favorite read of 2012 but that ending!

18. Favorite Relationship From A Book You Read In 2012 (be it romantic, friendship, etc).

Sean Kendrick and Puck Connelly in The Scorpio Races
Gus and Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars

19. Favorite Book You Read in 2012 From An Author You Read Previously

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater
Collateral by Ellen Hopkins - I am quite a fan of Hopkins, but her most recent books didn't sit well with me.  Collateral was a fantastic read though.

20. Best Book You Read That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else:

My intrepid librarian recommended Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan.  As a bibliophile, I was intrigued.  The book is about a strange bookstore, coded books, a secret society of readers, but it's also about technology today - specifically Google - and what happens when print and web meet.  In short, it is an absolutely brilliant book about the quest for immortality.

Book Blogging/Reading Life in 2012 (optional)

1. New favorite book blog you discovered in 2012? 

Hitting on Girls in Bookstores - guy who reads YA and he is hilarious

2. Favorite review that you wrote in 2012? 

When She Woke by Hillary Jordan
I think this is one of my most thorough and honest reviews.  I don't like when I get gushy although there are some books I can't help but gush about.  (See The Fault in Our Stars by John Green)

3. Best discussion you had on your blog?

Not Waving But Drowning by Stevie Smith provided some thought-provoking reflections on poetry.

My Top Ten posts usually get a lot of comments (although I haven't had time to participate recently) - but my To Film or Not to Film post generated some good discussion.

4. Most thought-provoking review or discussion you read on somebody else’s blog?

I can always count on the ladies at The Broke and Bookish to provide an interesting, thoughtful discussion on all things literary, so it's not surprising that two of my favorite posts of the year are from their site.

The Casual Vacancy
Daisy Discusses DNFs

I loved both of these posts because they were able to so candidly express some of the very same struggles and opinions I have on these topics.

Also, although not *technically* a book blogger, she is an author, and Maggie Stiefvater posted a fantastic video about how being young and in love does not mean you lose your identity or your ability to pursue a career.  Warning: It is spoilery for those who haven't read The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy.

5. Best event that you participated in (author signings, festivals, virtual events, memes, etc.)?

The Poetry Project hosted by Regular Rumination and The Written World
It's still going on if you want to join in!

6. Best moment of book blogging in 2012?

Presenting at the National Council of Teachers of English conference about my banned books themed ENG 111 course.  I got to meet Ellen Hopkins, Sonya Sones, David Levithan, and Maggie Stiefvater.  All of my passions intersected at this conference: education, reading, and blogging.

7. Most Popular Post This Year On Your Blog (whether it be by comments or views)?

Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

8. Post You Wished Got A Little More Love?

Why YA?

9. Best bookish discover (book related sites, book stores, etc.)?

Etsy bookish themed jewelry and clothing
Captain Wentworth cuff
Captain Wentworth scarf
Harry Potter Marauder's Map iPhone case
Harry Potter "Always" necklace
The Hunger Games bracelet

Also, as a kid, I went to the library by my grandmother's house A LOT.  When I went off to school, I used the library for research papers but not much else.  Recently, I've been frequenting my school library more and more.  For one, my awesome librarian has been ordering some of the books I recommend!

10.  Did you complete any reading challenges or goals that you had set for yourself at the beginning of this year?

I've been posting more regularly due to The Poetry Project, and I've allowed myself to abandon books that don't I don't click with.  I even started a Did Not Finish shelf on Goodreads.

Looking Ahead…

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2012 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2013?

The rest of the Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2013?

Just One Day by Gayle Forman
The Moon and More by Sarah Dessen

3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging In 2013?

Joining in Top Ten Tuesdays hosted by The Broke and the Bookish again and, of course, reading more!!

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

I loved Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, but Linger and Forever left me cold, so when I first read about The Scorpio Races on Stiefvater's blog, I thought, "Killer water horses?  Not for me."  However, I kept reading amazing reviews of this book.  Stiefvater posted numerous times on her blog how The Scorpio Races is the most "her" book she's written.  I finally decided I had to read it, so I picked it up at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference, where I got to meet Stiefvater, and all of those reviewers and Steifvater herself were right.  This book is amazing.  It's the most authentic book I've read in a while, earning it the honor of "Best Book I Read in 2012" on my 2012 End of the Year Book Survey, hosted by Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner.  (I'll be posting mine soon!)

From Goodreads:

"It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.  At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.  Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen."

Even though this is a book about killer water horses, there is nothing fantastical about it.  The plot reads very realistically.  I caught myself several times thinking Stiefvater's Thisby was a real place.  She paints the landscape and the characters, main and supporting, so convincingly, and as always, her writing style is very lyrical, which in this novel, evokes the wind-swept island cliffs and the powerful muscles of a galloping horse beneath you so clearly that I half believed I was there myself.  I don't claim to be very outdoorsy, but I did grow up on and move back to a farm, and when I go out on the back deck in the morning and look out over the field, the land I grew up on, to the woodline and see the early morning streaked sky, I think this is home, and Puck's love of Thisby really resonated with me.

I also really appreciated the slow-growing romance of Sean and Puck.  Unlike the deeply passionate relationship of Grace and Sam in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, Sean and Puck's relationship seems to spring up naturally between them, growing out of their mutual love for the land and horses.  Everything about Sean is so deliberate, and yet, when he speaks to Puck or touches her, every word, every action is infused with longing.  It is a beautifully restrained relationship, culminating in an anticlimactic kiss, which is perfectly orchestrated against the backdrop of the November ocean so that the couple becomes part of the landscape that they love so much.

But this book isn't really a romance.  This book is about courage and survival and independence.  It's about how hard it is to achieve those things and be respected, especially when you are a woman, and how you have to fight like hell to keep the things you love.  And although it's not a romance in the strictest of senses, it is a book about love.  Love for your family, for your friends, for the land, and for the horses.

I highly recommend this book.  I think Stiefvater is at her best in her stand-alones when she's not concerned with cliffhangers or loose plot lines that can be picked up in another book.  The Scorpio Races is a deeply moving, satisfying read.  If, like me, you saw "killer water horses" and thought, no way, I urge you to put your preconceptions aside and pick up this wonderful novel that transcends age and genre.  You will not be disappointed.

Best matched with fans of family dynamics, natural settings, horse races, and light romance.

For the Children

Since Friday, I have been trying to process the horrifying news out of Connecticut.  I wanted to acknowledge it on this blog somehow, but I haven't been able to find the words.  How do you speak about the unspeakable?  There has hardly passed a moment where the victims and families of the shooting have not been on my mind, yet even my most sincere thoughts seemed trite in comparison to the tragedy looming out of Sandy Hook Elementary School.  It's an event that will take forever to come to terms with, maybe longer, if I ever do.  I'm not sure I want to because I imagine when I reach the point where I can understand the murder of 20 young children and their educators, I will have lost something vital and humane within myself, and I do not want to meet, much less be, that person.

This morning when I woke up after a fitful night's sleep.  I logged onto Blogger thinking I would attempt to catalog my thoughts into a cohesive blog post, but instead, I posted a review of Ellen Hopkin's Collateral.  I still didn't know what to say.  I still don't although I would like to tell this story.  It's not really my story.  It's the story of my pastor and my church to which I was merely a witness this morning.

Tonight we will present our Christmas cantata at church.  I sing in the choir, and we have been practicing since August on a beautiful Renaissance work.  It is a difficult piece for many reasons, but I think we've finally got it.  My church is very small and has few children, but we usually bring in congregation members and their children, grandchildren, and friend's children to create a manger scene.  The children process in during different parts of the cantata until the entire cast is assembled representing the scene from Bethlehem as described by Luke.  This morning we forwent our traditional Sunday School lesson to practice for the cantata.  We have assembled quite a rowdy bunch this year, so there was a lot of running, jumping, and question asking.  Our dove was attempting to fly.  In short, it was a cute and hilarious distraction to the singers and our director.  After our chaotic morning rehearsal, parents collected their children, still riled up from their mock performance, and we rushed back to the choir room to prepare for the morning worship service.  Our pastor holds a few minutes of children's church mid-way through each service before the sermon.  Today he had planned a message around Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - complete with a bulbous, shiny red nose of his own - but the children were too distracted to hear it.  They wiggled and squirmed and interjected with their own messages.  One little girl almost knocked the Advent wreath, where three pillar candles were burning, off its stand!  The congregation watched with merry amusement as our pastor attempted to corral the young ones before finally scooping one up under his arm, uttering a quick prayer, and sending them bounding next door to the nursery.  He returned to the pulpit amid the congregation's laughter, picked up his Bible, and said, "In all serious and solemnity, wouldn't you rather be here with these children running around and laughing, then in Connecticut right now?"

My perspective was transformed.  Instead of thinking of this morning as disorganized and looking forward to the cantata tonight with wary anticipation, I viewed our time together as a celebration of the most innocent and joyful kind of life - the kind that was abruptly stolen this Friday.

I do not mean to tell this story to undermine the pain and suffering of the families of the victims of the Connecticut shooting.  I tell it instead to honor the life and legacy of those children and their educators taken too soon from this world, and I pray today for mercy and healing for those left behind.

Collateral by Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins is one of those authors that immediately goes on my "to read" list.  I read my first Hopkins novel, Burned, as a teen, and I've gobbled up everything she's written ever since.  I was ecstatic when she transitioned into writing adult fiction with Triangles because even through I still admired her verse writing style, her teen plots were becoming a little too melodramatic for me.  However, as I mentioned in my 2011 End of the Year Book Survey, Triangles also spread itself a little too thin.  I was pleasantly surprised then by how much I loved Hopkins' newest adult fiction, Collateral. 

Told solely from the perspective of the main character Ashley with the exception of poetic inserts from her boyfriend, Marine, Cole, Collateral is a cohesive, introspective look at military relationships.  Collateral begins in present tense but is interspersed with flashbacks, which Hopkins calls "Rewinds," to provide further insight into Ashley and Cole's increasingly complicated relationship.  Despite the fluctuation in time, the novel is surprisingly linear in its depiction of Ashley and Cole's relationship.  When it begins, Ashley and Cole are firmly entrenched in their love, but as the novel progresses, the reader begins to see the cracks in its perfect facade, mirrored in Ashley's Rewinds, which finally grow into chasms by the novel's conclusion.

Hopkins poignantly portrays the uncertainty faced by military couples and also highlights issues such as alcoholism, violence, and infidelity that peak during training and tour.  In her author's note at the beginning of the book, Hopkins indicates the hours of research she put into this novel from the news feeds she scoured about the unit she modeled Cole's fictional unit after to the interviews she conducted with military wives and girlfriends.  Her dedication to an accurate depiction of life and love in the military shows in every page, and although she strives in each novel to write the gritty realities of every day life, I feel she succeeded more fully in Collateral because she focused more on the minutiae that makes up every day life and relationships rather than inventing over the top calamities to befall her characters.

Best matched with readers interested in military family fiction.

One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones

I read my first Sonya Sones' book, What My Mother Doesn't Know, as a teen.  Pre-Ellen Hopkins, Sones introduced me to novels in verse, and I've been a fan ever since.  In addition to a unique writing style, Sones demonstrates incredible insight into the life and mind of a typical teenager even if the circumstances are atypical as they are in one of Sones' earlier novels, One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies.

From Goodreads:

"Fifteen-year-old Ruby Milliken leaves her best friend, her boyfriend, her aunt, and her mother's grave in Boston and reluctantly flies to Los Angeles to live with her father, a famous movie star who divorced her mother before Ruby was born."

I received a copy of One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies at the National Council of Teachers of English Conference where I met Sonya Sones, and I read it on the plane ride home.  It is a quick yet compelling read.  Although a bit campy at times, Ruby is dealing with heavy issues of grief, homesickness, and betrayal which, to a fifteen year old, signal the end of the world.  The novel was very poignant in places, and I found myself blinking back tears.  I refused to cry on a crowded plane, but it says something about the power of Sones' storytelling abilities that she could have me considering it.  Despite some tough plot points, the novel is set against a backdrop of Hollywood starlets, which will appeal to young teen readers. 

Best matched with pre-teen or early teen readers.

Yay for Surveys!

It's that time of the year when surveys abound - almost every blog I've read recently has sported some type of end of the year reflection.  I've been prepping a few end of the year reviews and surveys myself, but today's quick survey from Kelly at The Broke and The Bookish proved too good of an opportunity to pass up.  It's quick and fun and fills in the silence between my Christmas poems and my upcoming reviews and surveys on One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones, David Levithan Recommendation, Collateral by Ellen Hopkins, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, the 2012 End of the Year Book Survey hosted by The Perpetual Page Turner, and my Poetry Project mid-year reflection (it runs from July to July) hosted by Regular Rumination.  So stay tuned for lots of page-turning fun and reflection, but for today, enjoy my current reads and feel free to play along!

1. The book I'm currently enjoying: The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and Invisibility by Andrea Cremer and David Levithan (courtesy of Penguin Group)

2. The last book I finished: The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater - look for a full review coming soon, but here's a preview: LOVED!

3. The next book I want to read: hmmm...does a soon to be released book count?  I'm dying to get my hands on Just One Day by Gayle Forman, which drops in January, but I'll probably try to finish Anna Karenina next.

4. The last book I bought: The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater at the NCTE conference where Maggie and I shared a love for red appliances as she signed my books!!

5. The last book I was given: I've been trying to read everything I own, a daunting task, so I haven't been given a lot of books recently; however, my librarian did hold Ellen Hopkins' newest Collateral for me when it came in, so I could be the first to check it out - make friends with librarians; they got your back.

National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention 2012

The weekend before Thanksgiving my husband and I hopped on a plane and flew across the country to attend the National Council of Teachers of English Conference where I would be presenting on a panel about significant gimmicks in the composition classroom.  Our final destination - Las Vegas, NV.  Now, before I detail the events of the conference, I need to set the stage for our arrival by describing our layover in Chicago.  Holiday travel is a bear, and my airline of choice - American - apparently does not offer direct connections from Raleigh to Vegas (next time I'm flying Southwestern).  So my husband - who does not fly much - and I are wandering around the Chicago O'Hare airport for FOUR hours before our flight leaves.  During this four hour stretch, I manage to find a speck of wifi, and I'm perusing the NCTE conference app when I spot a document entitled "Meet the Authors!"  Now I know that many Young Adult authors attend this conference because their books are taught in several middle schools and high schools and they are very invested in adolescent education, but I didn't know who would be attending yet.  I open it up, scroll through, and, lo and behold, I see David Levithan, Maggie Stiefvater, Sonya Sones, and...Ellen Hopkins...the woman whose books and outspoken advocacy against censorship of literary materials influenced the direction of my ENG 111 course - the very course I was flying to Nevada to present on!!  I am hyperventilating, and my husband is pretending not to know me.  I search the signing times and discover that Ellen Hopkins is only signing on Friday while I'm stuck in the airport, but, silver lining, she would be presenting on a panel of YA authors at 4:00 p.m.  Our flight was scheduled to land at 3:00 p.m., and we could literally see our hotel and the conference host, MGM Grand from the tarmac.  "I have to make this panel," I swore solemnly to my husband.  We arrive on time, but a filled gate keeps up from docking immediately.  Then we have to wait for our shuttle.  We finally arrive at the MGM Grand at 3:50 p.m., and the checkout line is 20 minutes long.  A little after 4:00 p.m., my husband and I enter our hotel room, and I resign myself to the fact that I will miss seeing Ellen Hopkins.  I refuse to enter the panel late as I see that as the epitome of rudeness.  But there are still things to be done!  After we drop our luggage, I go check in and locate my presentation room.  I will be presenting the following morning at 8:00 a.m. (in Vegas!!).  It is then that I remember the room Ellen Hopkins was presenting in was just one hallway over from mine.  It is 5:00 p.m., and the panel is scheduled to end at 5:15 p.m.  A tiny flicker of hope is resurrected in me.  I peek into the open doorway from the adjoining hallway and see that the panel is still going on - I still refuse to enter, now an hour late, but I talk my husband into waiting until it is over, so I can at least go up and introduce myself to Hopkins after the panel.  Sweet, patient man that he is, he agrees.  So we sit and wait for the longest fifteen minutes of my life, and then people began leaving the room, and I screw up my courage, enter the room, and approach the front table where the panelists sat.  Other attendees were wiser than I and had books for her to sign, so when I finally reach the front of the short line that had formed in front of her, the first thing out of my mouth is, "I don't have anything for you to sign."  But I quickly recover and explain I was late for her panel, but I just wanted to introduce myself.  I briefly describe my banned books course and her role in it to which she graciously thanked me and away I went where I promptly spent the rest of the evening fangirling to my husband, my mom, my sister, my best friend, and my librarian.

Saturday, we were up and at 'em as were a surprising number of conference attendees.  My panel averaged between 20-30 audience members.  Not bad considering it was 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning in Vegas, and my colleagues and I were presenting on a very specialized topic - the use of significant gimmicks in the composition classroom.  Erika embeds the imagery and terminology of the vampire in her classroom.  I love how she encourages students to see grammatical errors as "vampires" in their writing.  I use banned books in order to facilitate original research papers, and Summerlin uses advertisements to encourage critical thinking about a writer's ability to "sell" an idea.  Although our room was not equipped with the most up-to-date technology, we still managed to rock it.  From there I attended two phenomenal panels on cognitive and metacognitive reading strategies and enhanced classroom discussion techniques, an interesting but ultimately inapplicable for my classroom panel on young adult literature and Wikipedia, and a horrible panel on grammar instruction.  Overall, I count it a success.  By this time, my husband has abandoned me to wander around Vegas, so I take the opportunity to enter the hallowed halls of the Exhibit Room - a gymnasium sized building with rows and rows of publishers hawking their wares at reduced prices.  I was drooling and seriously wishing I had a brought a bigger suitcase.  My first stop was Simon & Schuster where I received a (free!) copy of Sonya Sones' One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies, which she promptly autographed.  While she was signing, I told her about my banned books course.  She brightly replied, "I'm on the ALA's Top 100 Banned Books list."  "I know! My students read your books," I said.  And then, Sonya Sones makes my day.  "You should invite me to come visit."  Momentarily stunned, I quickly recover, "Ok - how can we make that official?"  Minutes later, I am wandering towards Penguin with a dazed smile clutching Sonya Sones' e-mail address in my hand.  (Currently, plans to make this visit a reality are underway!)  At Penguin's table, I pick up a $5.00 copy of David Levithan's A Christmas Carol remix called Marley's Ghost and receive a galley copy of his newest book Invisibility, co-authored with Andrea Cremer, due out summer 2013.  I slightly redeem myself from the last time I met David Levithan where I babbled incoherently about how much I loved his work by remarking on how much I love the vignette style of The Lover's Dictionary, which I've recently re-read.  Then I traverse to Anderson's Bookshops where I procure a copy of Maggie Stiefvater's The Scorpio Races, which I am currently loving, and The Raven Boys.  We chat about our mutual love of red appliances a la Grace in The Wolves of Mercy Falls trilogy, and I advise her on the best place to purchase a red toaster (Target) before returning to the hotel room for fangirl round two.

A totally successful conference in my opinion. 

Questions About Angels by Billy Collins

The same day that my intrepid English teacher introduced Thomas Hardy's "The Oxen," she also introduced Billy Collins; therefore, the two are often linked in my mind.  While perusing the Internet for some of Billy Collins' later work, I stumbled across one of my favorites "Questions About Angels" and decided it would make an excellent addition to The Poetry Project's holiday poems.*  The mystery that surrounds the divine origins of the traditional Christmas season is one that scholars, poets, and the average person have been researching and writing about for centuries.  Collins' poem is just one reflection on the manifestation of the angel.

Questions About Angels
By Billy Collins

Of all the questions you might want to ask

about angels, the only one you ever hear

is how many can dance on the head of a pin.

No curiosity about how they pass the eternal time

besides circling the Throne chanting in Latin

or delivering a crust of bread to a hermit on earth

or guiding a boy and girl across a rickety wooden bridge.

Do they fly through God's body and come out singing?

Do they swing like children from the hinges

of the spirit world saying their names backwards and forwards?

Do they sit alone in little gardens changing colors?

What about their sleeping habits, the fabric of their robes,

their diet of unfiltered divine light?

What goes on inside their luminous heads? Is there a wall

these tall presences can look over and see hell?

If an angel fell off a cloud, would he leave a hole

in a river and would the hole float along endlessly

filled with the silent letters of every angelic word?

If an angel delivered the mail, would he arrive

in a blinding rush of wings or would he just assume

the appearance of the regular mailman and

whistle up the driveway reading the postcards?

No, the medieval theologians control the court.

The only question you ever hear is about

the little dance floor on the head of a pin

where halos are meant to converge and drift invisibly.

It is designed to make us think in millions,

billions, to make us run out of numbers and collapse

into infinity, but perhaps the answer is simply one:

one female angel dancing alone in her stocking feet,

a small jazz combo working in the background.

She sways like a branch in the wind, her beautiful

eyes closed, and the tall thin bassist leans over

to glance at his watch because she has been dancing

forever, and now it is very late, even for musicians.

*The Poetry Project is hosted by Regular Rumination and The Written World.

The Oxen by Thomas Hardy

A word of caution faithful readers: I am about to reveal just how much of a compulsive organizer I am.

I am obsessive about my to-do list.  When I got an iPhone, it only got worse.  Now I had a way to sync, update, and keep track of multiple items all in one place.  Heaven.  My husband jokingly says to me, "You really use your electronic devices to the fullest, don't you?"  And though he means it in jest, I very seriously respond, "Yes, otherwise what would be the point?  And besides, the dog has never once missed her Frontline or Heartguard."

What does this have to do with Christmas poems you might ask?  Well, when I joined The Poetry Project hosted by Lu at Regular Rumination and Kelly at The Written World this summer, I went ahead and put every month's theme on my calendar, so when the first of the month rolls around, I remember to post a poem on my blog.  (By the way, this is the only blog schedule I stick to.)  When I added the holiday poems for December, I also added a note about Thomas Hardy's "The Oxen."  So when I woke up this morning and saw "PP Holdiay poems" on my to-do list.  I immediately thought, "I'm going to post Thomas Hardy's "The Oxen."  In short, this poem epitomizes Christmas for me.  I'm not sure why other than I was introduced to it by a favorite teacher of mine on my first day of ENG 101, and isn't that what Christmas is all about?  Memories and traditions?  And hope - upon re-reading this poem, I am struck by the last two lines, "I should go with him in the gloom / Hoping it might be so."  I wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas rich with your own memories and traditions no matter how quirky they may be.

"The Oxen"
Thomas Hardy

Christmas Eve, and twelve of the clock.
"Now they are all on their knees,"
An elder said as we sat in a flock
By the embers in hearthside ease.

We pictured the meek mild creatures where
They dwelt in their strawy pen,
Nor did it occur to one of us there
To doubt they were kneeling then.

So fair a fancy few would weave
In these years! Yet, I feel,
If someone said on Christmas Eve,
"Come; see the oxen kneel

"In the lonely barton by yonder coomb
Our childhood used to know,"
I should go with him in the gloom,
Hoping it might be so.  

*Coming soon!  How I met Ellen Hopkins, Sonya Sones, David Levithan, and Maggie Stiefvater as well as reviews of their respective works

*Also! Poetry Project mid-year reflection and End of the Year Book Survey 2012