The Hunger Games

is one of those books that everyone was reading, but I wasn't that interested in. It wasn't that I thought it would be bad, but I just didn't think it would be my cup of tea. Finally after a few friends suggested that I read the book, I gave in. It's easier to say no when cyber friends tell you to read a book, but when real people go on about it to you constantly then you feel obligated to read it. And thank God I did, because I am a huge Hunger Games fanatic now.

The book actually started a little slow for me, but I only know this now because I wrote it in my reading journal. By the end of the book I was scrambling so fast to get to the end I could barely breathe. I love Katniss. She is one tough bitch and she seems so real. The approaches her problems in a very realistic way, which makes the strangeness of the book easier to understand. Katniss lives in District 12, the final district. District 1 is rich and makes electronics, District 12 is known for coal mining. Every year a boy and a girl are chosen from each district to participate in the Hunger Games. The Hunger Games are a competition to survive. It's like Survivor (which I hated) except that people actually die and that is the whole point of the game. You have to be the last one to survive. This is a spoiler, I guess, but I'm sure you've figured out that Katniss is chosen to be in the Hunger Games.

Katniss is responsible for many people. She takes care of her mother and younger sister, taking the place of her deceased father as the breadwinner. She hunts with her best friend and possible love interest Gale, who is also responsible for supporting his family. When Katniss is faced with the Hunger Games her number one fear is not dying, but how her absence will change her family. Katniss is strong, but she is also headstrong and a little impatient.

I thought the writing was exceptional for a young adult book. There were a few clumsy phrases that I stumbled over, but the story was so consuming I just got back up and kept reading. Usually I'm a lot harder on "bad" writing, but I honestly don't think Suzanne Collins is a bad writer. I kind of blame her editor for not doing a better job cleaning this book up. As for the subject matter, I think it's a very adult book. I probably would have enjoyed it as a teenager but I think I would have been significantly more bothered by it.

This book earned an A. My advice: Go read this book, but make sure you have Catching Fire handy for when you finish it!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I am so excited to review Catching Fire

because it means I get to talk about all the things I had to hold back in my Monday review of The Hunger Games. That being said, if you haven't read The Hunger Games yet I wouldn't advise reading this review. Check out the review of The Hunger Games, and then go read it. You know you want to.

When we left the Hunger Games Peeta and Katniss had beat out the Capitol in their sick game. They both won the Hunger Games, which is impossible. When they return to District 12, they both discover things aren't that easy. Katniss realizes she still has feelings for Gale, and let's face it, Gale is kind of pissed that Katniss and Peeta were all lovebirding during the Hunger Games. And maybe he could get past it, if it wasn't for the fact that Katniss and Peeta basically have to pretend they are in love for the rest of their lives if they want to survive the Capitol. (Well Peeta might not have to pretend quite as much. Because Peeta is awesome.)

I loved Catching Fire even more than the Hunger Games, if that is possible. There were so many beautiful moments in this book and I thought the writing was even better. I'll do a few quotes without trying to give anything away. Two of my favorite Katniss quotes fromt his book are "Right before the explosions begin, I find a star" (379) and "I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans. The symbol of rebellion" (387). Ah! Katniss just got even more badass in this book. Katniss becomes so much more confident and daring in this book, even though she faces serious consequences. I won't go into too much detail, but some of the districts are having uprisings and the Capitol thinks Katniss (more than Peeta) is responsible for them.

I finished this book in a ridiculous flurry of emotion. There were so many times throughout the book that I was yelling "No! They can't do that!" I haven't been this sucked in in a long time. For several hours after finishing it I was sitting in my room thinking about it. It probably contributed to my lack of desire to study for the past two weeks. And I think that is the mark of a pretty good book.

Catching Fire earned a freaking A.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

District 12, Katniss Everdeen's home, is gone. And she is in a place most people didn't even think existed, District 13. What will her fate be? Does she even care? This is how Mockingjay, the final book in The Hunger Games trilogy begins. I didn't start The Hunger Games series until this past spring, but I quickly became obsessed and spent all summer howling in pain that I had to wait for Mockingjay

to come out. The day the book came out I got my copy and then spent the rest of the day in class and at work, eagerly awaiting evening where I could just sit down and read, read, read. I originally planned on reading the whole book in one sitting, but it didn't happen. I was two thirds of the way done and then went to bed, only to come home and finish it the next night. If you haven't started The Hunger Games trilogy please check out my review of the first book, The Hunger Games and if you'd like the second book, Catching Fire.

When I finished this book I immediately started texting my friend Liz because it's so difficult to get through this whole book without talking constantly about everything that happens. I'm going to agree with a lot of other people and say that this book started out extremely slow for me. I kept with it because I knew it would get better, but it wasn't as "jump right into the action" as I thought it would be. One third of the way into the book it really started to pick up, but I found myself constantly distracted over Cinna's possible return. I felt like Collins really laid it out that he might come back and since Cinna is my favorite character I pleaded with her throughout the book to make it happen.

I won't say if it happens or not, some of you haven't read Mockingjay yet (what are you waiting for?!?!), but I will say that unlike a lot of others I was very pleased with the ending of this book. I thought it gave a realistic portrayal of the way war and tragic experiences tear down a person. I thought Katniss' deterioration was great, the way her spirit breaks over the course of the three books. I know a lot of people really wanted Katniss to get stronger and for a happy ending, but personally I thought that would be doing a disservice to the audience of these books. It's just not realistic to say that at the end of all of this everything would be beautiful and happy. And as far as Katniss's revenge, I say yeah, she would be vengeful.

I wouldn't have changed very much about Mockingjay. I'm giving it an A.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Family day: The pair made the most of the sunshine as they played with Hayes's son Blakely. Hayes has said she wants to book a holiday for the three of them
Hayes and Tweed looked like a regular young family as they treated themselves to an ice-cream and had fun on the arcade games.
Earlier in the day, Hayes had tweeted fans: 'Family day out :-) xxxxx.'
Hayes looked summery in a yellow T-shirt and skinny Topshop jeans, while 10-month-old Blakely looked smart in a shirt and chinos.
The couple are thought to have started dating again in March after previously splitting in November.
Treats all round: Hayes, Tweed and even Blakely cool down with an ice-cream
She said: 'Jack’s still trying to get back with me at the moment, actually. But seeing as he’s trying to get into every other girl’s knickers at the moment, too, I’m not really that bothered.
'We’ve been on then off again too many times to mention - more than 100, anyway.'
Hayes caused controversy yesterday when she revealed that she wanted to have a gastric band fitted to drop from a size eight to a size six.
Happy together: Hayes and Tweed share a laugh as they mess around with the arcade games in Southend
In the driving seat: Hayes treats her son Blakely to a ride on an automatic fire engine
Speaking to Closer magazine, she said: ‘I’m nine stone now and a size eight, but I want to lose another stone at least and drop down to a size six.’
‘I’d have a gastric band if doctors would let me. I’ve already asked – I begged!’
It appears that the serious nature of the operation, nor the fact that at nine stone she is clearly not a suitable candidate for the dangerous procedure, is lost on Hayes.
She added: ‘There’s something called a hypno-band where they hypnotise you into thinking you’ve got a band, and I’d like to have a go at that.’
Sweet! Chanelle and Hayes are thought to have started dating again in March
You're a natural: Tweed looked every inch the doting father as he pushed Blakely along in his buggy
source:dailymail

VIA Chanelle Hayes and Jack Tweed make their rekindled romance official with romantic beachside display

Whoa, guess what today is. My six month blogaversary! Yeah, that's right, it's English Major's Junk Food's half birthday. I was really excited about this day, but when I told my friends and family they all said they couldn't believe it had only been six months. I guess I kind of feel that way too, sometimes it's hard for me to remember a time when I wasn't blogging. I've always been big on celebrating halves because I figure it's an extra incentive to get you to a whole. In my six months of blogging I've met some veteran bloggers and helped some new bloggers get a start. I've been interviewed on the radio and for a newspaper. I've reached 100 followers and surpassed 100 followers. I've read twice as many books as I did before I was blogging. I've read books for review and joined in on a blog tour. I've bloggiestad and I've changed my layout a lot. In short, I've done a lot in six months!

Unfortunately I did not bake this cake, but if I could bake a cake I would and I'd want everyone who has helped me these past six months to have a little cake too. I couldn't run this blog without all of my great blogging friends and followers- like you!

So this week I posted a review of the The Lightning Thief and I revisited a teen favorite, Fifteen. These are both YA books and I'll just warn you I've read a lot of YA recently so several of my upcoming reviews will be YA. Not all of them though. If you're ever curious to see what books are coming up for review you can check out my 2010 reads page. I usually review the books in order. (PS, If you love YA I'm probably going to have a Hunger Games week next month as I just finished The Hunger Games and I'm reading Catching Fire right now. So good.) I revisited Where the Wild Things Are in my children's book vlog. On Friday I posted an awesome music video that makes literary references. Check out the Filligar video and enter to win a free t-shirt from them!

Clouds over London

Clouds by Tomas Saraceno

VIA «Olympic clouds»

If you were on Twitter last night you probably saw me freaking out about Catching Fire for most of the night. I went to sleep thinking I would finish that last 80 pages this morning- but I just couldn't do it. I was tossing and turning all night and finally I got up at 2 AM and finished it in an hour. You would think I would have let out a sigh of relief, but instead I started jumping up and down violently in my room asking "Why, why did this book have to end?!?!?!" Then I promptly got online and pre-ordered Mockingjay, the final installment in The Hunger Games series. The cover is beautiful:

So I'll admit it. In two weeks I have become obsessed with The Hunger Games. I was even having dreams about it last night. I recently read The Lightning Thief which is supposed to be the "New Harry Potter," and I really enjoyed it. But I didn't feel like this when I finished The Lightning Thief, and what I feel like now is exactly what I felt like when I got into Harry Potter. I can't believe I have to wait four months for the next book. Ah!

As I mentioned on Friday I've been a little absentee for the past week. My posts have been pretty regular but my presence in the blogosphere has been lacking, I don't think I signed onto Twitter for two or three days. So for that, I apologize. This last week has just been a series of insane events, which I kind of talked about on Friday. As for what I did get done this week, I posted reviews of Armadale and Blubber and that was pretty much it. I did see a post on my friend's Tumblr of her in her new Filligar t-shirt she won from English Major's Junk Food though! Check it out at Forever Young.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

Okay, April was insane. Seriously. Check out the list of books I read:

1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (A)
2. Armadale by Wilkie Collins (B)
3. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (A)
4. Fifteen by Beverly Cleary (C)
5. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks) (C)
6. Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi (A)
7. Blubber by Judy Blume (B)
8. I'm Sorry You Feel that Way: The Astonishing but True Story of a Daughter, Sister, Slut, Wife, Mother, and Friend to Man and Dog by Diana Joseph (B)
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (A)
10. Catching Fire by Suzanna Collins (A)
11. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (B)

Eleven books! Okay so half of those were from the readathon, but I'm still amazed I got through eleven books in one month. But honestly, as much as a bragged about how awesome April was as a reading month it wasn't as good as I originally thought. Okay, Catching Fire and The Hunger Games were awesome. Definitely my favorite books this month. I really like Fahrenheit 451, The Lightning Thief, and Chicken with Plums. I enjoyed I'm Sorry You Feel That Way but everything else was kind of eh. I finished the Shelf Discovery Challenge this month. It's the first challenge I have completed this year!

So overall I guess it was a pretty good reading month, I really really liked about half the books I read. But I also read more books than I normally do. What is most exciting about this month is that I now have a ton of books that need to be reviewed which means I can read at a more relaxing pace. This is going to be really important for the next two weeks because it's finals time. Oh yeah. So that means I'm going to be absent for about two weeks. I'll still be posting, but the time I'll be able to spend on visiting other blogs is going to drop dramatically. I'll come back though. I promise.

So I have been studying for my American History midterm for two hours now, and after searching on the Internet I have realized that there really aren't very many ways to study for things. My test isn't multiple choice, it's a combination of essay questions and defining key terms. The best way to study for this exam seems to be to do exactly what the test will ask me to do, but this hurts my wrist. I typed up the "right" answers and have read over those, but I tend to not soak in information very well through reading. I have a strong desire to go back to high school with the study tables and pre-made study guides. Oh yeah, and multiple choice tests.

I did find one website which was kind of neat though. I love crossword puzzles and Crossword Puzzle Games allows you to make your own crossword puzzles with whatever words and hints you want. It only lets you use twenty words and I had to make a couple different ones because not all of the words fit on one puzzle, but it's kind of a neat tool. If nothing else you will type in the clues which helps you dip back into the definitions of the key terms.

Otherwise I've made a study guide for myself in word by writing paragraphs about the key terms and then taking out words and putting in blanks. I've used this before and I don't know how much it really helps me, but it's better than just rereading everything because I know that doesn't help me at all. I'm a fairly passive textbook reader.

So how about you? How are you or do you study for midterms? Any tips to share with the rest of us?

The Queen Bee of Bridgeton by Leslie DuBois is the story of 15 year old Sonya who wants nothing more out of life than to be able to dance. She understands that homework is important, but it would always take a back seat to her dancing, if her older sister didn't push her so hard to make something better for herself. She attends the prestigious Bridgeton Academy and for years she been anonymous. But she attracts the attention of Will, one of the most popular and notorious boys on campus and suddenly, everything starts to change. People start noticing her, and not all of the attention she starts getting is good. She somehow attracts the attention of the schools group of 'mean girls' and she's shown a side to people she's never seen before.

Sonya doesn't really understand cruelty. She doesn't understand why people do things deliberately with the intention to hurt or harm. It's not in her nature. So when the mean girls in school start popping up, Sonya doesn't really understand what's going on, or why people could be like this, but she definitely wants to help those who have been harmed by this group of mean girls. But, the mean girls have a system worked out, a system where they rule the school and they really don't like this girl getting in their way.

I really liked Sonya's character. She was just a genuinely nice person who looked for the good in everyone. She is both observant and blind, seeing a lot that most people overlook, but missing out on a lot of details that are right in front of her. She's fairly innocent without being completely naive and I found her to be completely believable. That's about the way I'd expect a 15 year old with a good heart who only cares about dancing to react. But, Sonya was the only character I completely believed in. Most of the other characters in the novel were well written, well rounded and well developed, but they were somehow missing that solid ring of authenticity I got from Sonya.

I liked Will. Mostly. I found the game he played with his jock buddies to be absolutely and completely reprehensible, which gave me a bad taste for this kid from the beginning. I don't know if high school kids really play games where they get points for sexual acts. Some probably do. I don't want to think about it. (Not in a, let me stay naive-stick my head in the sand way, but in a — if I spend to much time thinking about this I might hit something-way). It disgusts me. Completely and totally. So, I knew I'd struggle with Will when the only thing Sonya knows about him is that she thinks he has sad eyes and that every time she sees him, he's leaving some dark and semi-public place with a half naked, very disheveled girl. So, when he approaches her (wait, me?! Are you talking to me?!) she's a little confused, somewhat concerned, and a lot not interested. And I loved that. I loved that Sonya told him no the first time he asked her out, and that Sonya wasn't afraid to be true to herself.

I will admit that while I didn't guess every single plot detail, I did see a lot of the big stuff coming. Which is okay. Every book doesn't have to be a complete and total surprise, but a lot of the stuff I'm assuming was supposed to be shocking, wasn't. Sometimes this bothers me, but it didn't this time. Which is, of course, a very good thing.

I thought that the book was very well written and it had a great pace. The character development was wonderful, both individually and in relationships and interactions and I loved the speed at which DuBois had Will and Sonya's relationship progress. And, while I was initially very put off by Will, he really wanted to do right by Sonya and he tried, hard. You could see that. It was clear that he was unsure of himself for the first time around a girl and I found that very endearing and very believable. When you are completely confident in your ability to make a conquest and have never tried to have a relationship, it's going to be hard and it's going to get awkward sometimes.

I was explaining this book to someone, mentioning what the book was about and things and they mentioned that it sounded like a cross between Mean Girls and Step Up. And, ya... I'd have to agree with them. The school itself isn't an artistic school, and Sonya is the only one who dances or anything in the story but elements from both movies are present in the book, and I can easily see how you would enjoy this book if either (or both) of those movies are ones that you enjoy watching.

The book also offers a sneak peek at the beginning of book two in the series. While I genuinely liked this one and thought it was well written with well developed characters, I don't really feel like it needs to be a series. I felt like the characters stories were finished. Obviously, there is the possibility for more to tell, because people continue to live, but I thought this book was perfectly complete. So, I don't know if I'm going to pick up the sequel(s) to this one yet. I haven't decided. I might be happy to just let these characters rest in my mind, leave them with their (mostly) happy endings.

*Disclaimer — I received a copy of this book from the author as part of a Teen Book Scene Tour.

Oh my goodness everyone! Can you believe it?! It's been almost a full year since last years insanely awesome Fairy Tale Fortnight! So now, it's time for Part 2!

I'm fully aware that I pretty much win worst blogger of the year award so far. My new job takes way more time and energy than I was anticipating, and I barely have the time to check my email let alone all the other awesome stuff there is to do online. (How sad it is that I don't even have time for all my old stand by time wasters?! Life is truly sad when you don't even have time available to really, truly waste online, ya know?!)

Anyway — Misty has pretty much been completely and totally made of win lately, being all proactive and boss and stuff. Seriously guys, I'm pretty sure she even bleeds awesomeness.

But anyway — I just wanted to post something to let you all know that it's coming (last 2 weeks of April!!) and that you should get excited for it! Things will be a little different than last year, but still awesome and still fun!:)

SO. What should you do?! Grab a button (fabulous, aren't they?! Like I said, Misty rocks my face) and get reading some fairy tales! We are going to have a place to link up your fairy tale posts, so get reading those fairy tales and retellings, watching those fairy tale movies and shows, and thinking up all kinds of fairy tale goodness!

And then get ready to let the fairy tale games begin!:)

One Christmas while growing up, my parents gave my older sister a set of books for Christmas. She had them, which meant that I wanted them. But they weren't mine. (I'm still surprised at the number of times over the years that they have given a gift to one of us that would have been better suited for the other. Like the sewing machine... Seriously...) Anyway. I digress. So, I had to wait for the sister to either finish reading all nine books, or wait for her to get tired of them. I don't think she made it past the first few books before losing interest and then grudgingly allowed me to borrow them. (I'm pretty sure the parents were involved in pushing that...)

And let me tell you... I devoured those books. Seriously inhaled them. The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder was insanely loved by me. I cannot tell you how much I loved these books. There are nine of them, and I was reading them when I was probably about 7 or 8. Nine books. Big books too (at least for a kid that age) But I read them. And I loved them. I loved them so much that I thought they were the greatest books ever. I wanted to be Laura. For real... I begged my mom until she made me a bonnet and then I would run around outside, letting my bonnet flop off my head and stream behind me like Laura's did. (And really people, Laura was right! Bonnets are seriously annoying.)

I remember so many games played by myself that involved me being Laura in some way or another. I loved all of the books, but my very most favorite was These Happy Golden Years because that's when Almanzo proposes to Laura. It's been years since I've read these books, but I've never forgotten that scene. I even looked it up a while ago to make sure I was right, and I totally was. 'That would depend in the ring.' Sigh. It gave me butterflies. I don't even think I was 10 yet when reading this book but I remember thinking how amazing and romantic that scene was.

But then... Book the ninth. I remember starting it, so happy and eager to read about them after they had finally gotten married. But as I started reading, nothing felt right. The writing was different and even as a young kid, the narrative voice felt... off. Somehow awkward and stilted. I remember forcing myself to finish the book, because it was the end to this deeply beloved series but being incredibly disappointed in the final book. It wasn't until later that I learned that Laura had died before writing this book and her daughter (I think...) had compiled the notes she had left behind and written the final book for Laura. Made me feel pretty good that I'd picked up on the differences as a 9 year old.:)

I really want to go back and reread these books because of how much I loved them growing up, but at the same time, I'm very afraid to. I'm afraid that they won't live up to the pedestal I've placed them on in my memories. Maybe I'll wait until I have kids of my own and then try and read them together. I'd love to go back and see how many of the scenes I vividly remember from these books are the same as I remember them, or if they are even in these books (like Laura running through the rain so fast she managed to dodge the raindrops. Do you have any idea how many times I tried that?! I lived near Seattle, WA. We were no stranger to rain and I used to try, so hard to run fast enough to dodge the rain. But alas. I never managed it.)

Any of you have memories of reading about the many adventures of Laura on the prairie?

Complete List of the books:

Little House in the Big Woods
Little House on the Priarie
Farmer Boy
On the Banks of Plum Creek
By the Shores of Silver Lake
The Long Winter
Little Town on the Prairie
These Happy Golden Years
The First Four Years

(Also, I hate the cover art with the real people on it... I loved the Garth Williams illustrated covers, even as a kid. They just fit the books so much better)

I've selected Books for Soldiers as my charity for the 24 hour Read-a-Thon. Books for Soldiers is a non-profit corporation that ships books, dvds, video games and relief supplies to deployed military members of the US armed forces.

For every book I read, I will donate $5 to Books for Soldiers. Typically, I can read a 300 page book in two hours, so I'm estimating that I will read approximately 12 books (more or less!) Books For Soldiers operates totally on donations, so please consider sponsoring me during the Read-a-thon with a donation. You can donate a flat amount or per book.

Books for Soldiers has provided me with a secure easy pay button to post on this blog. This button is posted below, and will be posted on the sidebar of this blog through the conclusion of the read-a-thon. Payments will be processed using Paypal. All donations are tax-deductible.

If you are interesting in donating, please email me at jenlaw77ATearthlink.net or by posting a comment below. I would like to keep track of the donations earned through this effort.

In addition, I will be sending a copy of each of the books I read to troops overseas. If you are interested in donating books please email me or comment below.

Thank you for considering a contribution to this cause. If you are unable to donate, please follow my progress on Saturday, April 18! I will be hosting an amazing giveaway that day, so stay tuned!

P.A.B.D. has plagued me on and off for my entire life. I know many bookworms who are faced with the same problem. Please read on to see if you have PABD and see how you can help yourself or others suffering from this disorder.

So what is P.A.B.D.?

Post Amazing Book Depression - The over-whelming sad feeling one gets after finishing a great book.

Signs of P.A.B.D.

• missing characters

• constant rereading of the same book

• stalking of the author

• lack of interest in other books

How to live with P.A.B.P.

• Find other books by the same author.

• Search for books with similar themes.

• Have a rebound book.

• Force a friend to read the book

Books Known to Cause PABD

* Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
* The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
* Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Have you had PABD?
What book caused it? How did you deal with it?

* For more information on PABD or to steal a warning banner to use in your reviews head over to www.25hourbooks.com

It's hard to believe I've already been working on my internship for a month. This week was by far the most fun and interesting week I've had yet. I'm pretty shy, but I feel like I have finally broken out of my shell a little bit at work and have been talking to my coworkers quite a bit. There was a retirement party and potluck on Tuesday for a bunch of people I didn't know, but all of us archives people sat together and chatted. There was a volunteer there as well who used to work in the archives. That seems to be a common thing at the State Historical Society. People retire, but then they come back as volunteers. I think that is a pretty good sign that they like their jobs. Thursday we all went to lunch at this place downtown called Lucca and I had an awesome (and slightly strange) sandwich. Brie provolone, mayo, and vegetables.

On Tuesday I also got a bit of a tour of the State Historical Society. It's weird that I've been there so many times but never realized how much behind the scenes action there is. I went to the reading room, which was a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, and met the reference librarian up there. The reading room still has a card catalog! That was about enough to make me SQUEE. I also met an archivist who worked with photographs and a few other people. It took some time out of my day and was a nice break from the usual going through boxes.

But I did find some weird stuff in the boxes this week. To name one, I find a mask that was made out of a photograph of a person's face and then cut out and attached to a rubber band. I pulled it out and asked everyone else if they knew who the guy was since I figured he was probably some political guy (the boxes I'm going through I related to politics) but no one knew who he was. It's a mystery. I also found this lovely cartoon (excuse the bad cell phone picture).

It wasn't all fun and games though. I did end up finding two of the worst death certificates I'd seen so far. It was a twenty-five-year-old woman who was shot by her husband. The next certificate was a man's name so I figured it was the husband killing himself. No. He shot his three-year-old son. Ugh, I felt sick when I saw that.

Today I have a little something different. Last week when I wrote my review for American Born Chinese I couldn't help but think to myself What do I really know about any of this? I've reviewed a decent amount of graphic novels on here, and I read them quite a bit as a kid, but I still feel incredibly awkward reviewing them. I am under the impression that this is the sentiment from a lot of bloggers and readers who are interested in the graphic novel but don't know how to look at it critically. To try and remedy this here and for other people, I asked my graphic novel enthusiast friend Ron to give his thoughts on what exactly makes a good graphic novel and what he looks for. Please check out his thoughts!

In its simplest form, a graphic novel is a bound collection of comics between floppy covers. It may be part of a series, about six to eight issues, a standalone story, or an omnibus edition, which contains about thirty issues of a single series. Pinning an exact definition down for the term is tricky—there isn’t a concrete set of terms to define things within the medium. For example, in front of me sits Brit, a series of one shot issues—bound like graphic novel collections. But we’ll push the hardcore ontological stuff to the side for now and just focus on sketching out the graphic novel in broad terms.

The real key to understanding the graphic novel, and comics, is to understand that neither of them are genres. They are mediums, like film or books or even video games. All movies aren’t action films, nor are all comics about superheroes. So, like films and books, there’s something for everyone. Last week, I got my brother hooked on Brian Wood’s series, DMZ, which isn’t about superheroes at all, instead a second American civil war. While superheroes may have the highest profile in the industry (for example, Captain America’s death makes news) there are many individual genres to choose from.

Reading a graphic novel is also something that needs to be decoded by the reader. There are general guidelines to reading a graphic novel, determined by the positions of captions, panels and bubbles on the page. From both the written and artistic perspectives of the medium, a good graphic novel should never confuse the reader within the page or delay him or her from moving to the next panel in a clean transition. This is of course assuming you’re not dealing with a book that’s intentionally breaking these rules, just like in postmodern fiction.

But, as avid readers, it’s not all about reading the story from cover to cover and shelving the book. Graphic novels can be analyzed just like the rest of literature, but it may take some getting used to. Though comics are the synthesis of words and images, the brunt of the analysis comes from the image itself, like in film. It uses a very similar visual vocabulary, the borders of the panels act in ways similar to a film frame. If a character takes up most of the panel, it suggests power, the same way it does in film. If the panel is canted, it suggests similar unease. The comic differs from film in that it’s static images, not fluid cuts on a single frame. There is a larger context to panel design in how they work as a whole on the page.

The filmic analogy, however, doesn’t capture the breadth of actually analyzing a graphic novel: the words are important, too. Most of the text in a graphic novel is dialogue, that’s the way it should be—cluttering the page with explanations of the action is redundant, poor storytelling (postmodern and meta considerations aside).

Further mish-mashing mediums, the words even have power beyond their literal meanings. Bold words indicate important or stressed words, but the author doesn’t supply an emotional indicator afterwards, like “sadly” or “angrily.” The words don’t just sit on the bottom of the page, like filmic subtitles do. Different fonts can also hold different meanings. In David Mazzuchelli’s atounding Asterios Polyp, each character “speaks” in a unique, creator-designed, font, suggesting their different voices on a symbolic level. Comic book dialogue is unique to individual readers; it’s active reading.

This dense toolbox gives creators a lot to work with, so readers need to be diligent in identifying the particular tropes a writer or artist is employing. Some creators, like Alan Moore, will use everything at his disposal to construct the comic, while others, like Frank Miller, only use tools to highlight important elements in more standard stories. But much of the time, stories can be absorbed without worrying about postmodern dialectics within the work, or analyzing it as closely as English majors are wont to do. Once the medium is unlocked, the most important thing is to pinpoint interests. Like zombies? Grab the zombie book. Like superheroes? Your choices are plenty. Like Vikings? We’ve those, as well. So next time you find yourself near a comics outlet…stop in and have a look.

A little too serious for my own good,

RON.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us Ron! Be sure to check out Ron's blog Entertainment Etc.

Choose a time of your life--childhood, middle school, high school, college, etc--and create a time-capsule post to share with your readers. Include anything you like--favorite books, favorite authors, favorite series, favorite genres, favorite songs, favorite albums, favorite musicians, favorite movies, favorite tv shows, favorite toys, favorite games, favorite styles, etc. You can make it as general--or as personal--as you like. If you're brave, you might even include personal pictures! (Though that is NOT a requirement!)

If your focus is on books, on reading, perhaps you'd like to mention if you've ever reread any of your 'favorite' books from this time. And if you have, what did you think? Have you out-grown any favorites? Or do you love them still? What do you think makes a book timeless or dated? Perhaps your favorites are out of print, which ones would you love to see brought back into print?

I moved into my townhouse with three bookshelves and they were completely full right away, so I knew a new bookshelf was in my future eventually. I finally got sick of all the random stacks of books around the house towards the end of last semester and yesterday I bought the bookshelf. It's the biggest bookshelf I've got so far. Apparently I've become more realistic about my growing library. I'm amazed by how many of the books I own I've purchased since I started blogging. Apparently I just didn't know what books to buy before my blog and now I'm constantly bombarded with books I want to read plus I find ones on my own. Book blogging has definitely changed the way I approach shopping in a bookstore-- but that is a post for a different day.

The bottom shelf is games and children's books, two things that didn't really have a home in my house so it makes sense for them to go on a fairly empty bookshelf. Above that is about two shelves of unread books. Just by looking at my bookshelves it seems like I'm finishing one shelf of books for every shelf of new books, which means I'll never get past that one bookshelf worth of books I haven't read. I'm pretty okay with this ratio right now, obviously I would like to read more books than I'm taking in. The worst part is that I have two shelves of books that I've owned for a long time but still haven't read. When I look at the books I think I want to get to them someday, but I don't want to read them as much as the new books I bought in the last year. I should probably get rid of some of the books I haven't read but I honestly think getting rid of books is a humongous pain in the butt.

The second shelf from the top houses literary magazines which were previously under my coffee table. This collection is only going to get bigger in 2011 because I not only have a subscription to The Believer (my second year with it) but I have one to McSweeney's as well. The very top shelf has some beer bottles from Germany on it. Not much to do with books, I just thought they were pretty.

Have any of you gotten a new bookshelf recently? Do you need one? Are the stacks of books taking over your house?

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What a hard list to make! I feel like I haven't been that interested in bookish couples to keep up with who I like. So here goes.

1. Jane Eyre and Rochester. I find them less romantic every time I read the book, but as a senior in high school I thought Jane hearing Rochester calling her name at a great distance was the most romantic thing ever.
2. Diana and Henry from The Luxe. Their kind of not exactly a couple all the time, but I get so into their storyline every time I pick up the books.
3. Dick and Anna Moss from High Fidelity. Best movie couple, best book couple, just best couple ever. Killer taste in music and just too cute together. If you don't believe me go watch this video. They appear thirty seconds in and are just too great.
4. Katniss and Peeta from The Hunger Games. I suppose I was always kind of rooting for Peeta.
5. Rob and Laura from High Fidelity. Apparently High Fidelity is just the winning couples book for me.

I just can't think of other couples I love as much as Dick and Anna and Rob and Laura, so instead of listing off five more couples I'm going to force you to watch this video so you can see why they're so great.

Join in at The Broke and the Bookish!

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Part of the reason I've been so absent lately (click each image to make it larger):

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.