Novel Thoughts #2: Fictional Worlds

Welcome to week two of Novel Thoughts! We've got an awesome discussion topic this week, coming from Sarah at Sarah's YA Blog. Here it is:

If you could live in the world of any book, which would it be? And which fictional world would scare you the most if you woke up there tomorrow?

I'm seriously in love with this topic. I've spent way too much time thinking about what it would be like to suddenly pop-up in one of my favorite books and live with my beloved characters. So with a bit of deliberation, I decided that if I had a choice to join any literary world, it would be the world brought to us in Cornelia Funke's Inkheart trilogy.

 

For those who haven't read the series: Inkheart is set in our world with one major addition—there are a few (and I mean few) people called Silvertongues who can read things out of books—meaning that when something is mentioned in a book (a thing, an animal, a person) it might suddenly leave the book and appear in the room. (It works vice-versa as well. Things—and people—can disappear into the book that's being read.)

So I think this answer might be a bit of a cheat—assuming I could find a Silvertongue, I'd be able to visit all the fictional worlds I wanted.

And on to the second question: the answer for me is most likely The Forest of Hands and Teeth Trilogy by Carrie Ryan.

  

If you don't know anything about this series, let me explain very briefly: zombies. And although reading the books themselves didn't scare me, I know I'd be scared out of my mind if I was living in a world half-full of undead people.

So those are my picks! Let me know how you would answer that question, then check out the other posts with the links below. (And don't forget to submit your own ideas here! If your idea is picked, you'll be offered a chance to do do a guest post like Sarah!)

  

What fictional world would you want to live in?

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

"There’s always a gap between the burn and the sting of it, the pain and the realization."

Who would have guessed that four minutes could change everything?

Today should be one of the worst days of seventeen-year-old Hadley Sullivan's life. Having missed her flight, she's stuck at JFK airport and late to her father's second wedding, which is taking place in London and involves a soon-to-be stepmother Hadley's never even met. Then she meets the perfect boy in the airport's cramped waiting area. His name is Oliver, he's British, and he's sitting in her row.

A long night on the plane passes in the blink of an eye, and Hadley and Oliver lose track of each other in the airport chaos upon arrival. Can fate intervene to bring them together once more?

Quirks of timing play out in this romantic and cinematic novel about family connections, second chances, and first loves. Set over a twenty-four-hour-period, Hadley and Oliver's story will make you believe that true love finds you when you're least expecting it. 

I really adore the idea of a book taking place in a 24-hour period, which is what this book did. It gives it a really unique feel the whole way through. I feel like it made it a little harder to put down, because everything was happening so fast. There weren't the breaks of days or weeks that there are in other books, which can sometimes make a book drag on.

I also really like the airport/airplane scenario, which is where almost half the book takes place. I've only been in a few airports, but I just love them, so I love that this book was set in such an unique location for a large part of the story.

This book was a quick read—I knew that it would be just from looking at it. It's only 215 pages and it's got the largest print I've ever seen in a YA book. It's just a really short book. I have nothing against shorter books, but I felt that it was just too short for this story line—things developed too quickly, and people changed from one mood to another all on one page. Things simply weren't described or included and it left me a little unsatisfied.

I don't want bash this book,  but I honestly didn't enjoy it. I didn't connect with the characters: I wasn't too crazy about Hadley, the main character, and while Oliver seemed nice enough and had some funny lines, I didn't feel their connection growing to a point more where they would be more than casual friends.

Oh, and a random tangent: There's this one point where Hadley goes running off without knowing where she's going or how to get there at all—and I understand why she does it, I do. What I don't understand is how her dad let his 17-year-old daughter run off without any explanation of where she's going in a gigantic city she's never been in before. He very clearly doesn't make any effort to go after her, and it just aggravated me because I felt it was so unrealistic.

Despite the hype, a couple funny lines and a nice ending weren't enough to leave a good impression on me. I didn't dislike it, but I won't be going around recommending it, either. This one was just an okay read for me.

Novel Thoughts #1: Favorite Genres

Welcome to my very first Novel Thoughts post! This week we're talking about our favorite genres. I don't really have a favorite, but if I had to pick one, I think it'd be sci-fi. (That sounds beyond nerdy, but it's true.)

Anyway, Inky, Megan and I compiled our favorite genres and I'll be sharing my favorite book in each one!

Megan's Pick: Contemporary

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanan

Though I don't get to read too many contemporary books, I love the genre. It's hard to pick a favorite, but I think, for me, it's Flipped. I really adore it: it's just a cute little story about how crazy and confusing love can be—especially when you're growing up.

Inky's Pick: Historical Fiction

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Historical Fiction is a genre I've barely dipped my toes into, but I've loved every book I've tried. The Book Thief is one of my favorite books of all time, so it definitely topped my historical fiction favorites list. (Oh, and if you have any historical fiction recommendations, let me know!)

My Pick: Science Fiction

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

This is an obvious one—Unwind is my favorite book, and it's sci-fi to its core. My favorite sci-fi books are always the ones that are just on the edge of believability—the ones that can freak you out because they're just a little too possible. You most assuredly get that with Unwind, which is one of the reasons it's my favorite sci-fi book.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you agree or disagree with my picks, and what books wou would've chosen instead. Also, check out Inky and Megan's posts and see what they chose!

       

 If you had to pick, what's your favorite genre?

Novel Thoughts: A Book Discussion

Hey everyone! I just want to update you all on something new and bookish I'll be participating in.

The What:
A book discussion feature, created and hosted by the lovely Megan from The Book Babe, Novel Thoughts.

The Who:
Megan @ The Book Babe
Inky @ The Book Haven Extraordinaire
and, of course, me.

The When:
Bi-weekly on Mondays, starting November 12th.

The Deets:
Check back for a new post every other Monday and see what bookish thing we're all talking about! Then you wonderful people can chime in with your own opinions in the comments. But that's not the only way you can be part of the discussion—you can also suggest topics for us to talk about! To do so, just simply fill in the form on Megan's blog here.

I can't wait to talk books with all of you! See you on Monday.

I'm Participating in NaNoWriMo 2012!

Hey guys! This is just a quick post to let you know that I'm participating in NaNoWriMo! Which I shouldn't. Because I'm busy. And I have things to do. But it's something I've wanted to do since I first heard of it, and I decided that this year is the year that I'm finally going to buckle down and do it.

Are you participating too? Let me know—I'd love to chat with some other NaNoWriMoers!