Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

Lincoln hates his job. Working nights at the newspaper as "internet security" isn't a hard job, and it pays very well. But the principle of the thing doesn't change. Lincoln is paid to snoop. He is the one that must read flagged intra-office emails to find the offenders who email things not appropriate and not pertaining to work. Some people might like going through other people's things, but it leaves Lincoln feeling off. He should quit this job, find a job in the sunlight, working with other people, instead of reading their emails. But then Beth and Jennifer get flagged, again, and again. Lincoln has never met them, never seen them, or heard them actually speak, but he can't help but feel like he knows them through their tell all narrations. They either can't take the policy seriously or don't care, and Lincoln should really send them a warning, get them to stop. But how could he give up Beth's wit or Jennifer's quips and stories? By the time he understands how deep in he is it's got to be too late to do anything about it. How can you become friends with someone when you've already read all of their very private emails?

In this funny and heartwarming story the reader follows around Lincoln O'Neill as he desperately toes the line between curiosity and the socially unacceptable. I absolutely loved this book. It was fun and interesting, and though it isn't a book filled with action it still manages to keep the reader sucked in page to page until it's done. 

I very much admired the way Rowell went about telling this story. All things accounted for, it was a delicate endeavor to tell a story about someone reading other people's emails and not make it creepy. But I have to say I didn't find Lincoln creepy at all. I actually kind of identified with him. He's just trying his best, and he doesn't mean to get as far as he goes. But do any of us really? I found it very realistic at how easily it is for him to get caught up in the web he finds himself. One thing leads to another until your standing at a chasm you didn't know you were toeing. But that's life. 

Another thing about Lincoln and his story that just really appealed to me was his age group and the place that he was stuck. He is firmly wedged in that area of time that no one wants to talk about: the "graduated but not left the house" person, who doesn't really have the job they want and just doesn't know how to get unstuck from the life they are now leading. I've heard the high school stories, the college stories, the midlife stories and beyond. But no one likes to talk about that transition period in between college and finding the life you want. I know not everyone finds themselves in it, but it is a very real and growing phenomena today and it was refreshing to find a story that addresses it without become slow and boring. 

I have found in reading Rowell (my first experiencing of her writing being with the YA novel Fangirl) is that she excels in writing about what no one wants to talk about. She takes these topics that everyone marks off either because they want to ignore them or everyone deems them too boring to support an actual novel, and she turns them into very real and wonderful stories. her books are all rather long, but they read like they short. you start them and before you know it you're done.

I was left with the best feeling of contentment when I finished this book, and the first words that left my mouth as I closed it at the end was, "That was beautiful". If you like something fun and quirky with just a little bit of divine intervention thrown in, you will love this novel. 

Control by Lydia Kang

All her life Zel has let her father make decisions for her. It's been easy that way and anyway, he's always known her better than she knew herself. But when a horrible accident rips her life apart and throws her into a world she doesn't know or understand, Zel comes to see how much her father wasn't telling and that she must either take the reigns on her own life or lose what she most holds dear. Suddenly she is living in a world where her sister is illegal, Zel herself is stuck in a house/ freak-show, and there's absolutely no one she can trust. Zel must choose between love and sacrifice, all the while hoping that it's worth it in the end.  

Taking place in the intense futuristic world of 2150, Control is the first book in what looks to be a YA series by Kang, the second book due out winter 2015. This is a fast paced thrilling science fiction adventure that will keep the reader on their toes. It also doesn't hurt that it's got just enough romantic intrigue to flavor the story without over sweetening. I was completely taken with this novel. The characters were interesting and many faceted, the setting was richly described and almost entrancing without becoming over-complicated, and the plot has a way of taking hold of your eyes and dragging them along for the ride. In a word, the book was a great balance of all things that make a great story and I loved it.

Another part of the story that I got the biggest kick out of was the numerous nods to Pride and Prejudice (as well as a few other Austen and other classic novels, in my opinion). It was lovely and refreshing to wade through the story picking out the little references. And the best part about it was that Control was running it's own show completely separate from the classic novel. Don't get me wrong, I love a good P&P reinterpretation or re-vamp story. They are great fun and have their own place in Austen's world. Control however wasn't really that. It was it's own animal with a little bit of a P&P treasure hunt tossed in. I'm not going to give away any more clues about what the references were, but for any P&P or Austen fan, it should be obvious right away. 

All in all this was a really great story and I recommend this to any and all readers. I don't think someone has to just like sci-fi to read this book. 

*WARNING* *SPOILERS AHEAD* *PROCEED WITH CAUTION*

A note on the ending

I was very tempted to give the book a 4/5 because of the ending. I love love loved the book, but I wasn't a huge fan of how it came to a finish. Initially I wanted to be annoyed that our love birds were torn apart. However, from a storytelling point of view, there would have to be a remaining conflict if the series was to progress, otherwise there wouldn't be any more story. Happily ever after is nice, but it is also synonymous with 'the end'. So yeah, I get that they had to be torn asunder to feed the flames for more story to come. However, I didn't like how easy it was for Zel to come to peace with Cy's sacrifice. I really loved Zel's character. She was a lot of fun to read and even though she was super into science (a subject I have little interest in unless I'm dealing with fictional stories), Kang did an amazing job making her identifiable. As readers we get to watch Zel grow into a new person. I love watching character development in stories because it makes the characters so much more real. In life people change. When crazy/ amazing/ horrific/ heartbreaking things happen to people, they can't stay the same as they were before it happened. So Zel forming into the badass rebellion lover that she becomes is really fun to watch. This new self she finds to be lying dormant inside her all along is forced out when she must save her sister. This is what builds the story, Zel's commitment and love for her sister Dyl. The whole book she agonizes about all the horrible things that are happening to her sister, unsure of the exact truth of the matter but terrified all the more because of this. I know that the bond between siblings can be a strong one, but romantic love can be just as strong if not more at times, especially in it's first bloom. I guess for me it was hard to understand how Zel could just let him go with so little fight. I know it was his choice to make the sacrifice, and that he is a strong man who can take care of himself in comparison to the delicate Dyl. But Zel cuts her losses so easily and just let's him go. I think it had to end the way it did, but I think she could have at least tried a little harder near the end. It all made things feel a bit rushed. Also, in the epilogue, everyone seems to forget about Cy too and just bask in general happiness. Eventually it's hinted at through her conversation with Marka that things are bothering both of them. This is followed by Zel professing that she will never give up and she will find Cy. However it is all done with this general air of calm. I guess I just expected a lot more feeling to be running through her, a lot more angst. It was still a good book, and still a good ending, but I wish there had been more pain to the separation. Otherwise it just makes it seem like she doesn't really care as much, slightly cheapening the effect of their love presented earlier in the story. It isn't a big bone, but I guess in the face of how good everything else was it just bothered me a bit.

Insurgent by Veronica Roth

Tris and Tobias stopped the simulation. But in the aftermath of it's destruction it becomes very clear that it was only the tip of the iceberg. Dauntless is split down the middle, Abnegation is almost gone, the Euridite are far from finished with their experiments, and it's only getting worse. In a society tearing at the seams Tris struggles to find the truth when she can hardly face the facts herself. She doesn't know who to trust, and now Tobias isn't trusting her instincts either. Will they be able to save themselves before it's too late, or will the truth behind everything destroy them all?

Insurgent is book two in the Divergent trilogy by Roth that revolves around a futuristic society set in Chicago. 

I'm just going to jump right in today and say that there was a lot I didn't like about this book. I can say I got a better grasp of the characters in this one than the previous book (I almost had a semi emotional moment at one point, almost). However I still never quite understood what it was that kept Tris and Tobias together. The love they talk about having between them in the first book doesn't seem strong enough to fit the descriptions in this novel, and to make matters worse both of them travel through the story in a permanent state of non-communication. There is a lot of emphasis on Tris and Tobias not really knowing each other. To which I'm thinking, 'No you don't! There was no real mental development in your relationship to begin with!". I'm not going to say that having flawed characters is bad. Quite the contrary, it's good for the characters to be many faceted and realistic. Though I'm not going to say that it is a horrible flaw to have two of the main characters be annoying as heck, I wouldn't say it is the greatest asset either. I had a hard time getting into the book and getting through it because of this.

I would say the same thing I said about the first one. I really liked the setting, the tone, the world that was created. That was all done very well. Plot was interesting and kept me pulled in once it got going, however I feel like the big reveal at the end was puffed up more than was actually warranted. From a storytelling point of view, it might have been wiser to spend less time building it up and rather just take us by surprise at the end. Leaving clues is good. It's never wise to trick a reader. But it isn't good to get expectations high only to disappoint. 

Perhaps I'm being too harsh on it because there has been so much hype about the stories that I just expected more from it. I do intend to finish the series, but I feel I will remain one of the few with the unpopular opinion that the series wasn't the most amazing thing I've ever read, though neither was it the worst.

a moment

There are so many things I’ve always taken for granted. The million little moments in between the action of life is when you really live I think. These moments are so small, we forget them almost instantly. But they stay with us. They come back again and again in the inhalation of a breath. Newly clipped grass, the whir of a fan in the heat of summer darkness, they way it mixes with the sounds of insects calling and the way their little bodies beat against the lights on lampposts. It’s in the silence of that moment, when the wind whispers a breath along your skin, and you can feel the rain coming soon. You listen lying in a tangle of covers to the pit pat drop splash of the first beginnings of rain and you never forget. You think you do, but it is always there. And when you hear it again it comes back like the very first time.

Little silent moments making up our lives and we don’t even know it. The inhalation of cut wood, the way spring crept out of the ground and thawed the earth and your heart until wet dirt was more than aromatherapy, the feeling of your skin against his, the way it sounds when he runs a hand up your side, the delicious tingle. All these little things are locked in your mind waiting to spring forward when we stop a moment and take it all in. Anyone can scoff about the figure of speech to stop and smell the roses or the coffee or what you will. But it’s all about what you remember. And you might have the best pictures of your trip to the coast or the college years you lived so well. But you will always remember rain in summer, the sound of a fan in the dark, and your skin rubbing next to his in the silken heavy silence.

Camp NaNoWriMo here I come!

Hey look!

It's April and I have posted far too little about my writing!

So here it is. I've decided to do Camp NaNoWriMo. What's that you say? Well, it's something I only recently came into the know about (and by recently I mean 11pm March 31st). Camp NaNoWriMo is a mini, less intense, version of what all goes on in November. It takes place during the months of April and July. During these months you set your own goal, rather than the pre-set 50,000 words for November. During camp you can work on what you want whether it be a new novel, short pieces of work, drabbles, or what have you. Also, even more fun, other than the usual forums and online writing camaraderie, you get put in cabins for duration of your stay. These metaphorical cabins are groups you are put in based on what type of writing you are doing. For example mine is probably all people doing YA novels, because that's what I put down for my camp project. In this little group you have even more community and you can message the group, asks questions and make new writing friends. Want to know more? Just click here to find out more. Even better, want to try it for yourself? Click here to find the sign up page (you can do so with your NaNoWriMo account or make up a new one).

Come on, you know you want to join us...jooooiiin us, JOIN US!

...Okay we're gonna ignore that little bit there...MOVING FORWARD.

I wasn't sure at first that I was going to participate in the Camp. I already had the goal of finishing by May my novel (the one started this past Nov) and I have been plodding along with that. But there is just something about having a writing community at your back, and being able to see your stats and word count rise before your eyes that just can really motivate. Plus the community feel really adds excitement and happiness to what can usually be a very solitary and often lonely creative calling.

So in the end I decided to give it a go, and so far so good! Day 2 and I've reached 1,175 words of a goal of 15,000 for the month. I have no idea if it will take more or less than 15,000 words to reach the end of this novel. I completely took a stab in the dark and guessed. Seeing as I am solidly on the rising action still and just oh so loooove to get wordy, I think it might be a pretty good guess too. So in all, my goal is to finish this baby by the end of April, officially finishing the first draft of my second novel in six months! Considering that the first draft of my first novel took a little over three years I think I'm pretty good.

So far I'm at a total of 111,595 words, bringing me to 324 pages. I have officially passed up the word count of the first one, and some. Let's see where this month leads me.

Hope all my readers the best, and as always I wish you crazy happiness and lots of writing!