The Book Brats Most Anticipated Books of 2012 - PART ONE

The Book Brats Most Anticipated Books of 2012

January-April Edition

There comes a time in every reviewers life when they look at Goodreads and see the lists of books to come out in the coming months and they squee a little. For me, that was January 8th, when this post was constructed. But if you are reading this, it's at least the 10th because that's when this post goes up. But enough with the rambles! I have decided that I need to feature my TOP TEN anticipated books of January through April, including some books I already have on my shelves yet to read. Please bear with me as I argue with myself and try to explain why I am not insane. This ramble should prove that I am indeed off my rocker. Also, this is mostly YA. I think somehow I am becoming a YA blogger, LOL.

Book Brats On... The Author/Reviewer Relationship

Or… Megan’s Thoughts on being a blogger and aspiring writer.

I am sure many of you have seen the recent author versus blogger fiascos going around the interwebs. If you’re a blogger, it’s not hard to miss. Authors mocking reviewers, authors sending nasty emails about reviewers that then leak, authors posting angry rants on their websites and then deleting them after the damage has been done. It’s really nothing new, but somehow these specific events have blown up in the last four or five days. And it’s clear that damage can and has been done to reputations and opinions.

I am not going to name names, but if you browse Goodreads or Twitter, you can find exactly who did what. And I know many people have blogged about this and the relationship between authors and reviewers, specifically those of us who have blogs and post to Goodreads and Amazon and LibraryThing and the like. But I wanted to approach this from a different angle. As you probably know, I am a reviewer and an aspiring author. In fact, I plan on querying a project with agents within the coming months.

Book Brats On... NaNoWriMo

As many of my fellow bloggers can tell you, it’s that time of year – National Novel Writing Month is upon us. And if you know me or read my blog, you probably know that yes, I am an aspiring author. I have of decided to tackle NaNoWriMo once again for attempt number six, and hopefully this will be victory number five for me, but what does that mean for Book Brats?

Well, it means I probably won’t be posting as many reviews. I will try and keep up with my memes and attempt to get a few guest posts to make up for the lack of activity. And look out for the return of our Guest Correspondents if I can get them to review something for me. I can see my best friend squirming right now as I beg her to help me out. Or maybe she can do a guest post about librarians, I don’t know. We’ll see.

And expect to see a few writing updates from my progress! I am actually hoping to finish by the 18^th or so. I mean, in 3 days I did write 12,500 words, so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Writing job applications and manuscripts at the same time has become my life.

But the first Book Brats NaNo teaser – the working title! Coming soon maybe to a bookstore near you…

IN THE GARDEN OF DEMONS

Next Friday I will post a short synopsis. If I remember. But trust me when I say it has demons. Lots of demons.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming already in progress!

A Book Brats View on... Book Trailers

One of the more recent things in the book world has been the infamous book trailer.

Yes, I am going to post yet another rant about book trailers, I know, you've probably seen a hundred of them already, I know, but bear with me. I need to post more and I like to rant, so why not rant while posting? Kills two birds with one stone.

So you're asking, "Megan, really, what do you have against book trailers?"

Well, reader, let me tell you what I think. Book trailers, in my humble opinion, don't add much that a synopsis doesn't already cover. Some pretty pictures, a little music, maybe a few really good looking models and actors running around looking good looking. But what does it really make a reader do? Does a book trailer make anyone want to rush out to buy a book then just based on a few carefully selected words and pictures presented to them? Does it make them go to Amazon and read the synopsis? Does it make them want to go to the movies and see the latest Jason Statham movie?

Yesterday I watched the DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE book trailer on a whim. Okay, mostly it was because my friend shoved it in my face saying "LOOK AT THE PRETTY!" I watched it and felt nothing. It didn't make me want to read the book anymore than I already do. I can't afford to buy it right now and my library doesn't have any plans to buy a copy as far as I know, so I'm kind of stuck up a creek waiting for someone to give me cash before I can enjoy the awesome (unless someone wants to be nice to me and send me a copy, hahaha). I watched and felt apathetic towards it. Same with the trailer I recently saw for some other book I can't even remember the name of. A few pretty pictures, some words, some strange ethereal music, but nothing that told me what the book was about.

My opinion - book trailers are a waste of time and money. A book is not a movie. If I wanted to watch a trailer, I'd pull up the kick ass trailer for WATCHMEN that totally deceived me from the fail that was that movie. Such a good trailer. If I want to think about buying a book, a book trailer isn't going to sway me. I'll go to Goodreads or Amazon and check out reviews. I'll read a synopsis. I'll check out an excerpt. I'll wait for a book to randomly appear in front of me (it happens).

But a book trailer? Nah, I'll skip it. I don't see the need to watch them and choose not to. Unless Karl Urban is in it, I'll pass.

I'd love to know YOUR view on book trailers. Do they make you buy books? What do you think the publishing industry should do to get readers more interested in books? I want to know your thoughts!

Book Brats Top Ten Fave Books

Since I've been a naughty blogger the past few days (bad Megan, bad Megan!), I've decided to do a little impromptu post where I tell you about my ten favorite books of all time and tell you why I think you should read them. As you might have noticed by now, Book Brats doesn't focus on a genre, we focus on a demographic - young women ages 18-30. Being right smack in the middle of that, I hope that maybe suggesting some of the books I've loved will broaden your horizons and give you some new ideas for what you should pick up next time you hit the library, Amazon, or the book store! But it might be of note that yes, I do love science fiction, so it might be a bit weighted towards science fiction.

1.) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
268 pages
My all time favorite book, Brave New World is the epitome of a dystopian future to me in addition to being a classic of science fiction. It's hard to believe it was written 80 years ago. A definite must read.

2.) Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi
525 pages
A historical drama about the life of a little person in World War II Germany, this is probably the only story that has ever made me cry. Trudi's story is heartbreaking and inspiring. Truly touching.

3.) Contact by Carl Sagan
580 pages
A science fiction story for the realist scientist, Contact is a book where the movie is also amazing. Not only about the search for extraterrestrial life, it's also a story about the search for who we are inside, and for the human condition.

4.) The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
399 pages
My favorite young adult book of all time, The Golden Compass is a definite classic that has inspired me and helped me discover who I am as a writer and a reader. So imaginative and powerful.

5.) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
529 pages
Middlesex is a story about an intersexed person growing up in Detroit. Yes, I am a Jeffrey Eugenides lover and cannot wait for his next book coming out next month, but Middlesex is a rich story about families and self identity.

6.) The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
536 Pages
A romance for the ages while combining fantasy and science fiction in a contemporary, literary story, this book moved me and made me ask myself questions about love and what it really means.

7.) A Door into Ocean by Joan Slonczewski
416 Pages
Something of a forgotten science fiction epic, this is hard science fiction at its finest. An epic work of world building, romance, biology, and feminism, it's definitely a girl power book that also serves as a story about what happens when civilizations expand and look for new territory.

8.) Dune by Frank Herbert
608 Pages
Dune is one of the few books my father has ever suggested to me, but it's so layered and complex with some amazing back story and characters. The way the universe is created (and expanded upon in later books) is alluring and makes you ask questions - the mark of a good book, in my opinion.

9.) She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
465 Pages
A coming of age story with love, growing, and hardship, you can't help by root for Dolores as she grows from a 13 year old girl addicted to television and food abandoned by her family to a woman who struggles with herself and doubt. Heartbreaking and revealing tale into the human condition and the struggle to overcome our hardships.

10.) Watchmen by Alan Moore
408 Pages
The first and only graphic novel I've bought and read, I've read this over and over and over again. Completely out there and different, but so vivid and jarring, Watchmen takes you and shakes you hard as you watch the world unfurl, along with the superheroes who inhabit it.

So yeah, these are my ten favorite books of all time. I hope if you haven't heard of them or read them, you'll add them to your to be read list and pick up a copy. And if you have read any of them, I'd love to know! These are some great stories.

Honorable mentions: Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey, Expendable by James Alan Gardner, Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, Lethe by Tricia Sullivan

A Book Brat's View on Dystopias

A Book Brat’s View On… Dystopias!

Yeah, yeah, I know. I am probably one of the more vocal people tackling the “Is it REALLY a dystopia?” question, and I do it a lot. But let’s look at the not-so-proven facts. Publishers found a genre that sells on name alone so of course they are going to be using the word “dystopia” to promote books. Common sense says they’ll use it on books that aren’t really dystopian. Well, from my personal experience, this has happened a lot more than you might have thought, which begs the question.

What does the word dystopia really mean?

According to Merriam-Webster, a dystopia is “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives”, or according to some professor’s reading guide for some book, “Literally "bad place." A community or world (often set in the future) wherein conditions at first glance might appear to be wonderful or ideal, utopian in fact. However, further investigation reveals that it is often repressive in that it severely restricts freedom of thought, speech, or movement. Lois Lowry's novel, The Giver, or the movie, The Stepford Wives, are two examples of dystopias.”

Author Erin Bowman has this amazing flowchart that came about after Maureen Johnson managed to create a twitter discussion around #isitdystopia – and it’s a really good introduction to the differences between a true dystopia and the post-apocalyptic stuff usually considered wrongly to be dystopian. You can check it out here.

With this in mind, I decided to hit the streets… or Twitter and AIM to ask some readers their opinions. Yeah, I was on the student newspaper, I needed sound bites.

Mrs. ReaderPants defines a dystopia as “A group of people ruled by authoritarian government that curbs personal freedoms through force or coercion. Dysfunctional.” For Amber of The Musings of ALMYBNENR, “Utopia is the culmination of the perfect world. Politics, the economy, the way the world works: all of it is stable and people are content…and static. Dystopian worlds can be frightening, but in some ways, I feel like a dystopian world is better. Yes, a dystopian world may be one where our technology has gotten the best of us or one where we have lost all modern comforts, but it is ever changing. They might be populated with a lot of all-powerful bad guys, but dystopias are also testaments of hope and the underdog.”

So what is a dystopia? Does it have to be a world of the future? Does it have to be a world where things are clearly bad? I say no. I have read dystopian books (can’t remember their names right now, oops) that take place in the present. What they do have to have, though, is an overarching theme where everything appears perfect and utopian and safe, but then we slowly begin to discover with the main character that things are not the way they seem. Emotional suppression, thought control, Big Brother – the populace is controlled in some way or else kept from the truth of their situation and environment.

The thing I have discovered about the publishing industry – especially Young Adult publishers - is that anything that looks like it might have an element found usually in dystopian fiction will be immediately labeled with dystopia. Books like Jo Treggiari’s ASHES, ASHES and even Susan Beth Pfeffer’s LIFE AS WE KNEW IT have both been labeled by either the publishers or bloggers as dystopian when neither actually are dystopian. ASHES, ASHES comes close with a villainous organization, but there was nothing utopian about their situation, and in fact they were really trying to do a good thing. But check out my review of that to see more.

Applying the word dystopia to describing post-apocalyptic novels is especially doing the word dystopia a disservice. The word dystopia brings up connotations of great novels like BRAVE NEW WORLD and 1984, novels where there was a clear element of a utopia gone wrong. As readers and bloggers, we should know the difference between a dystopia and a simple post-apocalyptic novel. Yeah, it’s a thin line in many cases, but seeing as how dystopia has become a genre all its own, maybe it’s time we step back and ruminate about what the word really means.

I would love to know your thoughts on the subject! Please feel free to discuss this in the comments because I do want this to become a topic of talk.

A Book Brat's View: Romances in YA Novels

L is for the way you look at me, O is for the only one I see, V is very, very extraordinary, and E is even more than anyone that you can adore…

Love is an ever pervasive plotline in fiction. Will she get the guy? Won’t she? Please dear God will she wise up and realize that she’s better off single? Especially in young adult novels, we see romances of all sorts – love triangles, forbidden love, forever love, instalove, etc etc etc. The list goes on. But what do we learn from these stories? Can Twilight serve as relationship advice to preteens? Should we take harmful relationships with a grain of salt and let them serve as examples of true love?

I am not ashamed to say that I didn’t start dating until I was in college, and even then I had more sour apples than good ones. Not boys that were abusive, mind you, but boys that just weren’t for me. I’m still not ready for a committed relationship at age 24 and most of my friends are in the same boat. I read young adult novels and see tales of fifteen year olds in relationships that were ~meant to be~. Many times these same relationships have the telltale signs of domestic abuse – controlling, manipulative, obsessive, yet these girls persevere because we are supposed to believe as readers that boys controlling your life and watching you sleep is romantic.

Um…ew. No thanks.

This has been an argument time and time again, that some young adult novels are promoting bad relationships. To an extent, maybe this is true, but maybe instead young readers, with help from their parents, teachers, and other adult figures in their lives can learn from these and take away healthy dating tips. We can learn from these books about creeps and guys to stay away from. Is there a boy in your life that follows you around staring at you all day? Sweetie, you probably need to tell your parents about that one. A guy trying to kill you out of love? Call 911 or 999 or 119 or whatever depending on your country.

Surround yourself with smart friends who have your best interests at heart. If you hear them saying you should go for the stalker because he clearly loves you, please back away slowly.

Maybe what we can take away from some young adult novels is learning more about standing up for ourselves and not repeating the mistakes these imaginary characters may or may not have made. Domestic abuse in any of its forms is not alright, and please, if your boyfriend or husband or anyone does anything to harm you or make you feel uncomfortable, tell someone – a friend, a parent, the police, someone that can help. You can stand up for yourself. Obsession and stalking is not love!

Please let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your comments and views!