Archives
Recently, the brilliant Sarah Rees Brennan talked about her
love of romance and reviewed a few in her inimitable style. ((Well, I could not imitate it.)) She mentioned in passing her least favourite kind of heroine:
I truly hate the Blank Page Heroine. She is in a lot of books---I don't mean to pick on romance, because sadly I have seen her in every genre, including my own---and sometimes she seems to be there as a match for the hero who won't bother him with things like 'hobbies' and 'opinions.' Sometimes she is carefully featureless (still missing those pesky hobbies and opinions) so that, apparently, the reader can identify with her and slot their own personalities onto a blank page. ...
Posted by Justine at 20:19, November 17th, 2009 under Feminism, Reading |
This year I've been getting more and more people asking about ebook editions of my novels. This is my general response to that query.
First of all: you're asking the wrong person. My publishers are in charge of the electronic rights to my novels. If you're curious
John Scalzi has more to say on this question. If you're desperate for ebooks of my stuff bug my publishers, not me. That will be much more effective.
But here's what I know: Penguin has made electronic editions of Magic Lessons and Magic's Child available. But for some reason not the first book in that trilogy, Magic or Madness. Apparently they're working on it. That's all I know.
Bloomsbury, who publish How To Ditch ...
Posted by Justine at 21:02, November 13th, 2009 under How To Ditch Your Fairy, Liar, Magic or Madness trilogy, Publishing business, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Today Louisville's Courier-Journal has a most excellent article
about adults reading YA by Erin Keane. I don't just say that because I was interviewed for it, but because the article is smart and non-sensationalist, and includes some actual facts:
Young adult fiction's appeal has grown way beyond the school library. What was once considered entertainment for kids has become big business for adults, who are increasingly turning to the children's section for their own reading pleasure, according to publishing experts.
Nielsen's BookScan predicted U.S. book sales will remain flat this year, but amid this industry slump, sales of young-adult titles are expected to continue to rise. It's not only teenagers who are browsing the shelves
There's no hint of panic about this ...
Posted by Justine at 12:35, October 27th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
First I must make a confession: I was very nervous about reading
Zetta Elliott's
A Wish After Midnight despite all the good reviews it's had. I was nervous because it's self-published and I've had some bad experiences with self-published books. Midnight does show a few (minor) signs of not coming from an established publisher such as the margins and line spacing too tight. However, within a couple of pages I stopped being bothered by them, and a few pages after that I stopped seeing them at all because I was lost in the story.
I feel like A Wish After Midnight was designed with me in mind. Because it does so many things I love as well as working ...
Posted by Justine at 12:48, September 30th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Reading, Young Adult literature |
If you haven't already read
My Life as a Rhombus by
Varian Johnson I'm really going to have to insist that you do so. As usual I won't be revealing too much about the plot mostly because I think any plot summary makes
Rhombus sound like a problem novel, ((I have a huge prejudice against problem novels which I may have to reconsider since the last few books I read that could be considered problem novels were all fabulous.)) which it really isn't. It's a character study of a wonderful, smart, engaging, confused teenager, who's a total maths geek and wants to go to Georgia Tech to become an engineer. ((I kind of wish I'd gone to ...
Posted by Justine at 11:09, September 24th, 2009 under Reading, Young Adult literature |
Several months ago, the agent Kristin Nelson got in contact with me via my agent to ask if I would take a look at the debut novel of one of her clients with a view to blurbing it. I agreed to do so, mostly because I love
Nelson's blog, but warned that I rarely blurb cause I only do so when I'm excited about a book. I am picky.
But the book---
Megan Crewe's Give Up the Ghost---hit all my sweet spots. For starters it was a ghost story. I adore a good ghost story. Secondly, it wasn't the same old, same old ghost story. It surprised me. It was fresh, original and sweet and I cried when it ended. ...
Posted by Justine at 10:49, September 23rd, 2009 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Maybe I'm being unfair, but Dwight Garner's
New York TImes review of LeBron James' & Buzz Bissinger's Shooting Stars gave off the distinct reek of Eau de Condescension (via
Mitali Perkins):
“Shooting Stars,” a new collaboration between LeBron James, probably the greatest basketball player alive, and Buzz Bissinger, the author of “Friday Night Lights,” is a different kind of book. It avoids speaking about James’s professional career with the Cleveland Cavaliers (he was the National Basketball Association’s most valuable player last season) almost entirely. And since James skipped college, well, ixnay on that too.
"Ixnay"? Seriously?
“Shooting Stars” reads like a better-than-average young-adult novel, “Stand by Me” with breakaway dunks and long, arching three-pointers. I suspect it will find its best ...
Posted by Justine at 12:23, September 9th, 2009 under Ranting, Reading, Whingeing, Young Adult literature |
I have never ever wanted to learn to fly, yet
Sheri L. Smith's
Flygirl almost had me calling up flight schools. ((I suspect you need to know how to drive a car before you move on to planes. Not that I actually want to learn to fly or drive a car for that matter. Nasty smelly things.)) Ida Mae Jones lives to fly. So much so that she passes as a white woman in order to become a
WASP during World War II. The book is about race, class, gender, about friendship, obsession (for flying), love, and family.
Cut for mild spoilerage:
Posted by Justine at 13:12, September 8th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
I has one.
Back in May I mentioned that I wanted one on account of all the elecronic documents I read. I tried reading on my iPhone but it did not work out: too small and awkward.
After talking to friends and hearing what youse lot think I wound up getting a Sony 505. While it's not perfect and lacks many features I want, ((It does produce mangosteens whenever I want them or set off fireworks. Honestly!)) it's made a huge difference. While flying home to Sydney, I did not have to carry the usual 5 books in my backpack on top of the entire suitcase of books. All I carried was the eReader. My back thanks me. Profusely.
It ...
Posted by Justine at 18:56, August 31st, 2009 under Admin, Praising, Reading |
Most aspiring writers ask the right questions. I worry that
my last post, which is an
echo of
many earlier posts, gives a different impression, so I feel the need to say it loud and clear: the vast majority of aspiring writers who contact me ask smart, sensible, interesting questions. It's really only the ones who are more in love with the idea of being a writer than with actually, you know, writing who ask the wrong questions. Mercifully, they are massively outnumbered by the people who love writing.
During my events at the
Melbourne Writers Festival I wasn't asked any wrong questions. My audiences were smart and full of excellent questions. The encounter ...
Posted by Justine at 6:42, August 28th, 2009 under Fans & readers, Reading, Sydney/Australia, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
Sometimes when people read a book of mine and tell me it reminds them of some other book, especially if I have not read that book, I get in a snit. I am well aware that this reflects very poorly upon me. Please don't judge. ((Well, not too harshly.)) So when I was told that Liar was reminiscent of
Jacqueline Woodson's If You Come Softly ((And I'm very embarrassed by this but I can't remember who told me.)) my first reaction was pursed lipped muttering to myself about the special petal-ness of Liar and how it's not like any other book ever. ((Which is utter rubbish. Any book that was not like any other book ever would be completely ...
Posted by Justine at 1:11, August 11th, 2009 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Because I'm in transit, ((These two guest posts are timed to post while I'm travelling. If your comments get stuck in moderation you'll have to be patient. Sorry.)) I asked
Ari if she would step in for me, and she kindly said yes. Thanks, Ari!
I'm back! So yesterday I gave you a list of books about poc that I think you should read, although I'm sure I left off some great books by accident. If you want some more lists check out Susan's at
Color Online for specifically sci-fi check this out the
Happy Nappy Bookseller's list and for bi-racial, multi-racial poc
go here.
Also I want to share some information with you ...
Posted by Justine at 7:47, July 28th, 2009 under Reading, State of the World, Writing process, Young Adult literature |
Because I'm in transit, ((These two guest posts are timed to post while I'm travelling. If your comments get stuck in moderation you'll have to be patient. Sorry.)) I asked
Ari if she would step in for me today and tomorrow, and she kindly said yes. Thanks, Ari!
A little bit about Ari MissAttitude: I'm a teenager who loves to read, dance, laugh, listen to music and just live! I also love my fine brown skin =) I started my blog
Reading in Color because I would visit teen book blogs and I never saw reviews of books with poc (people of color). This frustrated me so I decided to start my own blog in an attempt to slightly ...
Posted by Justine at 7:24, July 27th, 2009 under Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
But first, Morgan, one of the winners of
the last giveaway, still hasn't
contacted me. Please do so! Your copy of Love is Hell and the Liar sampler awaits!
Once again the giveaway is based around a post I've been meaning to write for ages on dialogue. Way back in January when I did my whole month of writing advice I promised I'd write a whole post about how to write dialogue. But it never happened. I have started such a post but I has not finished it. Sorry!
In the comments please share your favourite bit of dialogue from literature. I'm using that term very broadly, so, yes you can include an exchange from any genre: YA, crime, romance, ...
Posted by Justine at 12:25, July 11th, 2009 under Bloggery, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 15:54, July 1st, 2009 under New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Lately I've read quite a few books people have been raving about and been really disappointed. So it was a relief to read two books that I loved, Sarah Rees Brennan's Demon's Lexicon and Coe Booth's Kendra. Today I'll be talking about DL, next week I'll talk about the fabulously brilliant Kendra.
Demon's Lexicon is told from the point of view of a sociopath. Nick does not get other people. He doesn't understand what they're thinking, why they do the things they do, or why they talk so much. He's a classic case of a character who's fabulous in a book but I would run a mile if I ran into him in real life. He has no qualms killing! This ...
Posted by Justine at 15:02, June 26th, 2009 under Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 8:27, June 22nd, 2009 under Reading |
Posted by Justine at 11:25, June 16th, 2009 under Reading, State of the World, Words & Language, Writing process |
Sometimes I think the best course of action for me is to simply not read anything in the New York Times
about books by women. I just wind up
cranky.
Today's piece by Janet Maslin on this summer's books by women was astonishing. On the one hand there's this:
The “Commencement” characters are savvy about, among other things, feminism and publishing. “When a woman writes a book that has anything to do with feelings or relationships, it’s either called chick lit or women’s fiction, right?” one of them asks. “But look at Updike, or Irving. Imagine if they’d been women. Just imagine. Someone would have slapped a pink cover onto ‘Rabbit at Rest,’ and poof, there goes the ...
Posted by Justine at 12:53, June 12th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, June 8th, 2009 under Publishing business, Reading |
Update with warning: Do not post spam here about your boy-friendly book. I am
deleting all such comments.
One of the most gratifying aspects of meeting people who've read How To Ditch Your Fairy since it came out last September (in the USA) is the number of boys who've turned out to be fans of the book. I will admit that given the title and the cover I was expecting an almost non-existent boy readership. I've been told a million times that boys won't touch a pink book and that HTDYF is irredeemably pink. So I've been dead chuffed by the boy fans.
While on tour for the book last year many parents asked me if they thought my book would ...
Posted by Justine at 8:11, June 5th, 2009 under Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 9:42, May 10th, 2009 under 1930s NYC novel, Reading |
I want one. I read gazillions of electronic documents: friend's manuscripts, pdfs, public domain books etc etc. I would love to have a portable device to read them on. I've tried various different reader software on my iPhone, and maybe I'm old, but the iPhone is too small.
The electronic reader I want doesn't exist. I've been reading up on the two main models, the Kindle and the Sony Ereader, and while the Sony has more appeal there are problems. The biggest one being that the touch-screen version is not Mac compatible. Given that my main use for a reader is for manuscripts and research pdfs that's a huge problem. (My iPhone has made me a touch screen addict.)
The main ...
Posted by Justine at 12:46, May 5th, 2009 under Reading |
Posted by Justine at 8:13, April 20th, 2009 under Reading, Viewing |
Posted by Justine at 0:16, February 11th, 2009 under New York City/USA, Reading, Writing life, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 0:49, January 9th, 2009 under Reading, Writing process |
Posted by Justine at 5:19, December 26th, 2008 under 1930s NYC novel, Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Magic or Madness trilogy, Mangosteens, Praising, Reading, Sport, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 20:03, December 14th, 2008 under Reading, Unicorns, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, December 1st, 2008 under Fans & readers, Praising, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 16:49, November 22nd, 2008 under Reading, Words & Language |
Posted by Justine at 13:05, November 16th, 2008 under Reading, Sydney/Australia |
Posted by Justine at 9:40, November 14th, 2008 under Book tour, Cons & Other Gatherings, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Love is Hell, New York City/USA, Reading, Sport, State of the World, Sydney/Australia, What's your fairy? |
Posted by Justine at 8:30, October 30th, 2008 under Love is Hell, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, October 16th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Publishing business, Ranting, Reading, Sydney/Australia, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:02, October 12th, 2008 under 1930s NYC novel, New York City/USA, Reading, Research, State of the World, Toilets |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, September 30th, 2008 under Bloggery, Book challenges, Cons & Other Gatherings, New York City/USA, Praising, Reading, Science, State of the World, Travelling, Young Adult literature, Zombies |
Posted by Justine at 15:39, September 21st, 2008 under Cons & Other Gatherings, Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 17:38, August 31st, 2008 under Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 11:35, August 28th, 2008 under New York City/USA, Reading |
I just read a book that's been getting rapturous reviews. It is every bit as beautifully written as advertised. There were whole paragraphs that were very WOW inducing. ((Imagine Stephanie Rice saying, "Wow!!!")) I loved parts of it and not just because they were about cricket. ((I just gave away what book I'm talking about, didn't I?)) But I did not enjoy this book.
I will break my usual procedure and name the book: Netherland by Joseph O'Neill. I'm naming it because it really is gorgeously written. Seriously, it's stunning. O'Neill deserves the reviews he's been getting. I think many people will love it. Hell, many people are loving it. I'm writing this to figure out why it didn't work for ...
Posted by Justine at 0:59, August 27th, 2008 under Ranting, Reading, Travelling |
Posted by Justine at 5:23, August 22nd, 2008 under Reading |
Posted by Justine at 4:52, August 21st, 2008 under New York City/USA, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 0:56, August 6th, 2008 under Fans & readers, Reading, Viewing, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 1:21, August 3rd, 2008 under Fans & readers, Liar, Reading, Writing life, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 3:39, August 2nd, 2008 under Fans & readers, Publishing business, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 16:45, July 31st, 2008 under Fans & readers, How To Ditch Your Fairy, Praising, Reading, Young Adult literature |
Posted by Justine at 19:27, July 30th, 2008 under Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 20:00, July 28th, 2008 under Fans & readers, Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 0:00, July 28th, 2008 under Fans & readers, Ranting, Reading |
Posted by Justine at 11:50, July 18th, 2008 under Praising, Reading, Viewing |
