Reading Rainbow: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Sorry I'm a bit late this week, but I wanted to actually finish this book before I rec'ed it. (Crazy, I know.) I was thinking it would be fun to rec a scary book this week, seeing as how Halloween is this weekend. But, I'm a bit of a wimp, really. The only time I've willingly watched horror movies was while doing research for a paper in grad school. With the lights on. During the day. So, I was having trouble committing to a truly scary book. I finally decided on Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, because I thought it might be spooky (I mean, look at the cover!) and I love Neil Gaiman.


From NeilGaiman.com:
Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade. Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other. This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.

I'd love to say that this book was super creepy and scared the bejeebus out of me, but it didn't. I absolutely LOVED this book, scary or not, and I've been telling everyone who will listen about it since I finished. First, Neil Gaiman is a master. That's a given, but this book is just about perfect. I loved every moment of it and was sad to reach the final page. The characters are brilliantly written, especially the dead ones. And Bod Owens is one of the best protagonists around. When I finished this book, I had chills (but not the scary kind), and tears in my eyes.

The Graveyard Book is a perfect pick for this week, especially if you're a bit of a wimp like me, but still enjoy a good book about dead people.

That being said, I'd love to hear your scary book picks! Do you read scary books? Or are you easily frightened, like me?

Waiting on Wednesday: Matched by Ally Condie

You all know I love dystopian fiction, right? Well, if not, I do. I love it. That is why I'm very excited for Matched by Ally Condie to come out! I read the review at Mundie Moms and immediately added it to my TBR list.






From Goodreads:

In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die.

Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

Matched is a story for right now and storytelling with the resonance of a classic.

Sounds good, yes? I think yes. I'm excited for this one! And, be sure to head over to Mundie Moms - they're giving away a copy and the contest ends TODAY!


Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine

Reading Rainbow: Looking for Alaska by John Green

I have to announce that I have a new Literary Crush. My first two Literary Crushes are Kurt Vonnegut (yes, I know he's dead, but that is not a factor in the Literary Crush), and Dave Eggers (his curly brown hair is a factor in the Literary Crush). My newest Literary Crush is no less deserving (and he has fun hair) - John Green! I rec'ed Paper Towns here at Whim Fic (love that book) but I've recently finished Looking for Alaska, and I'm happy to say it cemented my LC on John Green. (And if the book didn't do it, the videos on his website would have - I have tears in my eyes from laughing.)



From Goodreads:
Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave "the Great Perhaps" even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then . . . After. Nothing is ever the same.

Okay, so obviously I love this book. John Green's writing is just so great. Am I gushing? Yes, yes I am. But trust me, it's worth it. This book was funny (I think I may have guffawed at one point), but at the same time very real. There is nothing about this book that felt contrived. Even the main character's roommate being called The Colonel. I loved that, although I suspect it's due to the fact that we called one of my closest college friends by the same moniker all throughout my years in undergrad. (True story.)

But, I digress... back to the book. It was honest, deeply touching, and somewhat disturbing. But, like with Paper Towns, there is a beautiful sort of redemption that comes with that. The "Great Perhaps" that is at the center of this novel is a concept that I am now in love with and I don't think John Green could have illustrated it any better.

Have you read Looking for Alaska, or Paper Towns? Do you share my Literary Crush on John Green?

I will give a tiny little *disclaimer* on this book - it does contain drinking, smoking, and some other more mature scenarios. I wouldn't give this book to a tween, but I'd definitely feel comfortable recommending it to someone in their later high school years.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Near Witch

This week is a very special WoW for me, as I was fortunate enough to meet the talented, adorable, and very sweet Victoria Schwab at the Decatur Book Festival last month. At the time, I'd seen her here and there on Twitter, and had heard little bits about her upcoming book, The Near Witch, to know that both she and it warranted looking out for. Since then, we've gotten to know each other and I can honestly say that she is awesome + sauce x 1000.

Look how cute she is revealing her book cover!



Come ON, how could you NOT want to run out to Amazon.com and pre-order a copy when you know the author is so fab? Right? RIGHT? Well then, click this link and do it: The Near Witch on Amazon.com

Wait, you want to know what it's ABOUT? Fine. Here's the pitch:

"The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.
If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.
There are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. But when an actual stranger—a boy who seems to fade like smoke—appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know—about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

Part fairy tale, part love story, Victoria Schwab’s debut novel is entirely original yet achingly familiar: a song you heard long ago, a whisper carried by the wind, and a dream you won’t soon forget."

*pre-orders The Near Witch* That last line in the pitch is just beautiful! I cannot wait to read this book! It sounds a little creepy (which I like), and a great story to go with. I'm in!

So, to sum up:
Victoria = awesome
The Near Witch = sounds amazing
The Cover = GORGEOUS

There's no question as to why we're waiting anxiously for it!

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine.

Reading Rainbow: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

**SPOILER ALERT** This post contains just one spoiler - and that is what the book Speak is about. If you already know, then this won't spoil anything else for you, if not, don't read this but DO READ THE BOOK! Thanks!


I was hesitant to rec this week's book because I was thinking that most of you have read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. But then again, maybe you haven't. Maybe you've not read it because it doesn't have any vampires or werewolves or shadowhunters? Yes, I was guilty of that. Or maybe you are putting it off because of the subject matter. Personally, I tend to avoid books about rape, or that I know contain a rape scene . But, last week I finally read Speak, keeping my promise from our #SpeakLoudly give-away, and I am so happy I did.


From Goodreads:
Since the beginning of the school year, high school freshman Melinda has found that it's been getting harder and harder for her to speak out loud: "My throat is always sore, my lips raw.... Every time I try to talk to my parents or a teacher, I sputter or freeze.... It's like I have some kind of spastic laryngitis." What could have caused Melinda to suddenly fall mute? Could it be due to the fact that no one at school is speaking to her because she called the cops and got everyone busted at the seniors' big end-of-summer party? Or maybe it's because her parents' only form of communication is Post-It notes written on their way out the door to their nine-to-whenever jobs. While Melinda is bothered by these things, deep down she knows the real reason why she's been struck mute...

I read this from two perspectives: One as a person with first-hand experience with rape. Not myself, but a very close friend in college. I won't say too much there, except that this book got a lot of details right on and brought back a lot of emotions that I'd thought I'd forgotten. And two, I read as a parent. And not just as a parent to a daughter, but also to a son. We all focus on teaching our girls how important it is to protect themselves, but it's also important to focus on teaching our boys exactly why sexual assault is so wrong.

At the end of the edition of Speak that I read, there is an interview with Laurie Halse Anderson. She said she was shocked that many young men asked her why it (sexual assault) was such a big deal to girls. (I'm paraphrasing because I've already lent my copy out.) That struck me and made me realize that we need to Speak up to our boys just as much as we do to our girls. I think every parent should read this book, and when the time is right, their children should too. (Take that Mr. Scroggins!!)

Aside from my personal feelings about Speak, I should also say that it was extremely well written and I found myself laughing, crying, shaking (with anger), and cheering. It's a book filled with memorable characters (I loved Melinda's art teacher!) and moments that I will not soon forget. I fully intend to read this book again and again.

Have you read Speak? What are your thoughts? If not, are you planning on reading?

Reading Rainbow: Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Sometimes you just need a good, angsty romance with a supernatural twist. Firelight by Sophie Jordan is the perfect way to fill that need.








From Goodreads:
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

This book is serious. It sucked me in quickly and I found myself wanting to know more. Her draki pride (like a lion's pride) want her to mate and have little fire-breathing draki. Her mother wants to leave the pride and protect her from that fate (and worse). Her sister, whose own draki never manifested, wants to be a normal, teenage girl, and depends on Jacinda giving up her draki nature to do so. Jacinda, caught in the middle of all of this, is trying to find what it is she wants, while holding on to her draki. Her inner struggle is intense and very well crafted. Many times I found myself wanting to yell out, "Go! Fly! Be a draki!" and it was almost painful, as a reader, when she was unable to do so.

And then, of course, *cue the hot boy on campus* we have Will. Their love story is desperate, but true, and sadly, star-crossed. Again, there is an intensity here as Will has his own internal struggle with his family, who are draki-hunters. Despite their circumstances, the two are drawn together.

I was completely drawn into the world of the draki, and honestly, I wanted more of it. I'm secretly (okay, not secretly) hoping that the next book goes into the history of the draki in more detail, or that we just get more draki, especially Jacinda's draki. And Will. And Will and Jacinda. And... Oh, you get the point.

Altered Endings

VIPM (Very Important Pack Member) Cher went out of town this past weekend. Like any normal and sane writer, she asked me to promise to finish her manuscript for her if her plane went down. I, of course, solemnly vowed not ONLY to finish it, but to do so without aliens OR ghosts.

See, her writing style is very angsty YA realistic fiction, whereas mine only kinda flirts with reality. During this convo I got to thinking: what if our favorite authors, who span a wide range of styles/genres, were to switch up and suddenly write endings to someone else's books?

If Carrie Ryan had finished Mockingjay for Suzanne Collins, would an army of reanimated tribute corpses have overtaken Panem? Or, what if Stephenie Meyer had finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Would Voldemort have been vanquished with diplomacy?

I thought it'd be fun if we thought up a few mismatched endings and then asked our readers for some ideas as well. I think it's a neat way to illustrate that even in the same genre, everyone would write something COMPLETELY different if given the same source material. Viva la individuality! ;)

Mashup endings, eh?? LOL. I'd like to think that Cassandra Clare would tackle Pride and Prejudice. Except true to her ending in City of Bones, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would have the potential disastrous ending of perhaps being related?!?! We wouldn't know for sure until the final book in what would then be a trilogy. Ooooh, more Mr. Darcy. *happy sigh*

And think of a Jace-like Darcy saying this line, "In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”

Somehow I KNEW you'd find a way to bring Jace into this convo, Sophie. *winks*

Isn't it funny how something simple would change the whole book, though? Like, if Douglas Adams picked up in the last chapters of The Lord of the Rings? Sauron would've been poofed into a flowerpot by some sort of fluke in a time-space-drive. Which, you have to admit, would have been AWESOME.

*tries to picture Voldy as a flower* Yeah, that could work. He's got that Bald Head Villain Thing going for him. I'm picturing him as a Gerber Daisy.

As for Jace, of course, I had to drag a Hot Boy with Sword into the discussion. You expect it from me, after all. Speaking of that very topic, what if Sarah Rees Brennan wrote the ending of Prince Caspian?? Would a Demon become a ruler of Narnia?? Everyone shout with me, "For Narnia!"

Personally, I'd like JK Rowling to take over the ending of ANY book, since she gave us the best ending ever to the Harry Potter series. Well, best in my opinion anyway. She should have written the end of the Twilight series. There would be a huge battle scene with flying curses (the vampires are suddenly able to do magic, of course) and lots of biting. And, in addition to all of the Volturri, someone important from the Cullens would have to die... I'm thinking Renesmee. What? No one likes her anyway!

Oh, Renesmee AND Jacob! Because he would fly into a furry rage and get himself killed too, then. *cackles with glee* *wonders how this turned into Twi-rewrites* *decides that I don't care*




I tried to stay away from Twilight. But if you're talking rewriting the end of a book... well, that's where I go, natch.





Stacie, you took the thought right out of my head. As soon as I read Leigh's message and simultaneously laughed and cringed at the thought of SM writing the end of HP (she probably would have had Snape and Harry skipping through Hogwarts together), I started fantasizing about J.K. Rowling's rewrite of Breaking Dawn's last few chapters. I'm quite confident that *her* ending would have been epic. While we're throwing characters into the fire, would anyone object to adding Rosalie to the carnage?

That's true. Sweet innocent children do die in books especially if their death moves the plot along. *thinks about a certain young character in City of Glass* A death like that allows for a lead character to go all out on the revenge angle. Demons be damned. So J.K. would have rocked that. *pictures a very vengeful Edward and stifles a squeal*


Oooh... Vengeful Edward. *shivers* *in a good way* Wait, what were talking about?





Also, there was a moment on the plane when I thought my dream of being lost with Sawyer would *finally* come true, but my celebration was cut short when I realized, "Leigh didn't PINKY SWEAR that my novel wouldn't end with all the characters being beamed up to some faraway planet!" *looking at Stacie and Sophie for re-enforcement*


*sigh* It's hard to pinky-swear over the internet, Cher. Don't you trust my word that there would be no ghosts OR aliens? I wouldn't do something sneaky, like put in ghosts AND aliens, because technically that's not JUST ghosts or JUST aliens. Nope. Not I. *whistles innocently*



If I find out that an alien has made its way into my story, you're going to have a real-life ghost to worry about. ;p





Note to self: Cher is scary when her WIP is threatened. *winks*

So, WF readers, what mashed-up-ending-combos would YOU like to see? (Or what would you be unable to look away from, like an awful train wreck?) Tell us!!