Observations on The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Bethlylou

This is my favorite book in The Raven Cycle (so far). Gansey in his Ganseyness. Adam in his Adamness and Blue in her Blueness but most importantly Ronan in his Ronaness. I love him.

If you could dream anything and bring it back with you when you awoke, what would it be?
What really turned Declan and Ronan into enemies? Is it just that Declan is a liar and that he upheld Niall’s will without a fight?
How long has Declan known about Ronan and Niall?
Oh Poor Adam. It’s almost painful to read about his abuse and almost harder to read him think that he deserved it.
I know Adam had to accept his bargain but maybe when he started to see strange things, maybe that’s the time to go to the women who deal with strange things?
I don’t think I’ll understand the internet stanning for Kavinsky? He’s a terrible human being to put it mildly.
I’m quite charmed by the courtship of Maura and the Gray Man. To quote Hamilton “So this is what it’s like to match wits”
Calla is amazing. Her interactions with Ronan are always a delight. They should have more scenes together.
I wish I knew more about the Gray Man and his brother. I get his brother is a sociopath but I feel like there is more there.
champagne mistake. the champagne atrocity. I just loved how the Gray man described his rental car.
Let’s talk about Ronan’s sexuality or how little it’s talked about. I think that’s it’s great that he never out right says his gay. He doesn’t have too. It’s pretty clear that he is. Just as it’s pretty clear that Gansey is straight.
I wonder if there is more to the break in to Calla’s office at Aglionby.
Kate pointed this out but I do love how Maggie writes her female characters. They stand up for themselves. They never play the damsel in distress. When Adam loses his cool when arguing with Adam, Blue doesn’t apologize for making him angry or stands and takes it. She just tell Adam that she would be outside and he can join her if he calms down. Take note ladies.

I think I had a few more thoughts but now I can’t remember. Oh well. Onto Blue Lily Lily Blue.

What do you do about alleged Plagiarism?

Posted on March 6, 2016 by Bethlylou

This Tuesday Cassandra Clare is set to release the next book in her Shadowhunters Novels. Her series is highly popular and is now on it’s third series inside this world. The previous The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices were highly successful. The former has already inspired a movie (a really bad one) and a TV show (from what I’m told is actually not bad and is doing well in the ratings but I personally couldn’t get past the first 2 episodes). Unfortunately the release of Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices series is under a little bit of a cloud. Sherrilyn Kenyon, the author of the Dark-Hunters series, is suing Clare for copying her ideas. Kenyon’s series was first published in 1998 and Clare’s in 2007. They both center around an elite set of supernatural warriors that defend the world against demons and other supernatural beings. Clare has of course denied it by saying she wasn’t influenced by Kenyon’s work. I have read all of Clare’s books but I haven’t read any of Kenyon’s Dark-Hunters books. I’ve read the Chronicles of Nick, which I love. Seriously, I can’t recommend it enough. The series is a YA spin-off of the Dark-Hunters series and has overlaps with her original series, with characters appearing in both. Are there similarities? Sure? Probably? I don’t think the idea of elite warriors who fight demons is new or original. So I’m not sure what the outcome is going to be but does it matter? Should I be concerned that Clare might have taken some ideas from Kenyon? It hasn’t changed my opinions of her books. They may have similarities but they are both very different in tone and style that they don’t feel the same. Actually, until this lawsuit I didn’t even occur to me that they were similar. Not the same way that drew comparisons between Julie Kagawa’s Talon series to Sophie Jordan’s Firelight series. I wouldn’t say that one copied another but they definitely pulled from the same ideas. I think this gets a little murkier is the fact that Clare has been accused for plagiarism before. During her fan fiction days, she was accused of adding quotes from TV shows and whole passages from an out-of-print book. There are whole debates about the ethics of fan-fiction. Some would argue that fan-fiction itself is a form of plagiarism. Needless to say this doesn’t help Clare’s cause but I don’t think it necessarily proves anything either because again, I think there is some ethical murkiness when it comes to fan-fiction. From what I’ve read, Fifty Shades of Grey is far closer to Twilight then Clare’s The Draco Trilogy was to Harry Potter but I can’t say for certain. So where does this leave me? I had already bought my copy of Lady Midnight before this came out so I will read it but my excitement towards it has lessened. As readers do we have a responsibility here or not? If so, what exactly is it? I’m kinda I’m curious to hear what others have think about this.

#Bookreaderproblems

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Bethlylou

The Glass Sword came out yesterday. I preordered my copy over a month ago thinking I would get it by today because that is what I was told to expect it. Well, it wasn’t shipped until yesterday and I’m not supposed to get it until Friday. FRIDAY! I finished Deadfall on my commute home last night. So what do I read now? This is my dilemma. Do I read something new and run the risk of not finishing it by the time Glass Sword gets here? And then do I finish reading the new book or do I start Glass Sword because that’s what I really want to read? I’ve never been a fan of stopping and starting books. I like to read them all the way through. It’s part of why I mostly only read one back at a time, though I have done the two books before. So my other option is to read something I’ve already read before. It won’t be that hard for me to stop in the middle if I don’t finish because I’ll know how it ends. That would make the most sense but then I’ll lose my momentum on my book challenge. Not that my challenge is all that difficult since I know I can read 65 books in a year but I do hate to lose. Do you have this problem? What do I do?

Book Challenge Blues

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Kate

Beth completed her Book Challenge in mid November. One of the things that is fun about challenges like a book challenge is to stretch yourself. Last year I challenge myself to forty books but I read fifty-three. This year I decided to go for fifty.

I am currently four books behind.

And, now I’m wondering if it’s cheating to pick short books or easy books. I think it might be cheating. But, I’ve got the new Rick Riordan and Carry On by Rainbow Rowell in my queue. I am so excited to read them both (even though I’m not their target audience and are below my reading level)! Of course, if I finished the books on my “currently reading” shelf, I’d be caught up. (One of them is a audiobook and it’s only 4 hours long. That’s 4 sessions at the gym, so I should be able to knock that one out quick…if I make it back to the gym.)

Are you doing a reading challenge this year? How close are you to finishing? How do you catch up when you fall behind?

What Would You Do?

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Bethlylou

I’m going completely off topic but we said we were going to post a blog every day of November in honor of NaNoWriMo so I got post something. I have to say we’ve been doing really well. With the exception of the one day that we sorta missed because technically one day we posted after midnight but I’m totally counting that since I doubt anyone noticed besides us. Of course not now that I have pointed it out. Anyway, I digress. Recently my boss asked me, “What would I do if I was fired tomorrow?” Which is kinda a scary question to asked by your boss. Is she asking me because she’s going to fire me soon and wants to know I have plan? Am I being paranoid? After being assured that she wasn’t going to fire me, she was just curious. She would probably go back school for culinary studies. Not really surprising since I know she loves to cook. Check out her blog. Now for me, I have no idea. I’m pretty sure if I were fired tomorrow, there would be a lot of panicking and a lot of crying. It took me forever to find a job that paid enough for me to live off of here in New York. The thought of having to go through that all over again is terrifying. Would I move back to Iowa? Or move to Chicago? It’s a lot closer to home then New York. Maybe move in with Kate for a bit. Go back to work for Barnes and Noble? I have no idea what I would do. She then asked,” what I would want to do?” If I could do anything, no matter how improbable, what would you do? Hmm.. I would love to parlay this blog into a job? Anyone want to pay to read and review books all day? When I was younger, I thought about a being a sportswriter. Why not start a sports blog or podcast? I’ve been thinking about this question for about a week now and I still don’t know. I guess I’m still going to have keep thinking. What would you do if you were fired tomorrow?

Discussion Posts: Re-reading series before the new installment comes out

Posted on November 16, 2015 by Kate

This month has seen the announcement of the next book in the Raven Cycle series’ cover announced and the next book in the Cinder series released. Both of these things prompted much excitement here at SxLx because we’re into these series. Beth struggled with the decision to re-read the whole series before diving into Winter. I took the new cover art as a signal to re-read the Raven Cycle. In my case, the decision was easy because I haven’t finished Dream Thieves and at this point I’ve probably forgotten more than I remember. But, I know that not everyone feels this pull to revisit the older installments before getting to the new one. So, the comments section is open! What are your thoughts on re-reading a series before the new book comes out? Are you for it? Against it? Do you do it?

Are you a re-reader?

Happy Banned Book Week!!!!

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Bethlylou

It’s Banned Book Week!! If you need help finding your new favorite book that has been banned, visit the American Library Association’s page for a list. Don’t forget to read some of the reasons why books were banned or challenged. Some are pretty hilarious!

So what are your favorite banned books?

Dictionary Stories

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Kate

On the Canadian radio news show As it Happens last night I heard about something that is really cool. A gentleman in California has started a blog where he writes short stories that are made up entirely of example sentences from dictionaries. My favorite dictionary is the OED (and, thankfully, I have online access to it through my university) so I hadn’t noticed how crazy example sentences are. The OED’s jam is to put a word in its historical context so all of the example sentences come from texts in which the word was used. The sentences can be very dramatic but they can also be very funny as a word’s meaning may change over time. But, some dictionaries include sentences that have been made up to illustrate the definition of the word. These are the sentences that Jez Burrows is using to make his stories. The stories Burrows have come up with are clever and short. They make for a fun read. This one made me laugh this morning:

The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

A retired teacher. A topiary gardener. An army officer of fairly high rank. A brilliant young mathematician. A highly esteemed scholar. President Kennedy. One of the great stars in the American golfing firmament. Detective Sergeant Fox. The Honorable Richard Morris Esquire, chief justice of the supreme court of our state. When you put these men together, you’re bound to get fireworks. Unfortunately, we do not have the time to interview every applicant.

You can find these short stories here.

Summer’s End: The Pop Culture Homework Assignment Roundup

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Kate

Well, folks, It’s Labor Day and summer is over. This has been a really fun summer for us at StacksXLifeX. We challenged each other in June to do a Pop Culture Homework Assignment. We each assigned the other four books that were themed and we gave ourselves the summer to read them. (We, of course, could and did read other things, too!) My theme for Beth was travel. She read Wild by Cheryl Strayed. She then followed it up with Traveling Mercies, 13 Little Blue Envelopes (with the bonus extra credit: The Last Little Blue Envelope!) by Maureen Johnson, and A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson.

Beth assigned me The books of Rainbow Rowell. I’ve been hearing about some of these books for awhile now (in particular, Eleanor and Park) so I was very happy to dive into them. I also read Attachments, Fangirl, and Landline. Plus, we got some bonus posts because, serendipitously, Rainbow Rowell spoke at our parents’ local library while I was visiting home, Eleanor and Park inspired a playlist and Fangirl inspired a dessert.

We enjoyed this challenge enormously. It has been so fun to read books outside of our normal fare and to discuss those books with each other and you. We hope that you have enjoyed the posts and this summer. School is back in session, the leaves will be changing soon and before we know it, everyone will be doing year-end reviews.

So, tell us in the comments: What were your favorite books this summer?

Pop Culture Extra Credit: Insidious Humdrums

Posted on September 6, 2015 by Kate

So, I have finished Fangirl, the third book in my pop culture homework assignment. I enjoyed this book in both execution and in concept. I loved the overlap between real life and fan fiction. I love the acknowledgement of how invested fans get into books. So, in the Fangirl, Cath is obsessed with a book series about a wizarding world and is an avid writer of fan fiction. She’s actually not just a writer of fan fiction, she’s kind of a big deal in the fan fiction world. The evil villain in the book series is called the insidious humdrum. I thought this villain sounded…desserty. And, then Rainbow Rowell gave me this beautiful line.

“‘Insidious Humdrum,’ Baz groused. ‘If I ever become a supervillain, help me come up with a name that doesn’t sound like an ice cream sundae.'”–Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

After reading this, I spent a lot of time thinking about what would go on an insidious humdrum. Beth had some ideas, too. We decided that there should be two versions: the Simon and the Baz (the two main characters in the wizard books). First, we gathered our ingredients. (Me: Is Simon salty? Beth: Sure. Me: Levi is salty.)