I WENT TO THE TFIOS PRE-SHOWING

(This about the act of going to the pre-showing and a little of the movie itself, I will write a full Book vs. Movie on the Boulder Book Store's Blog.)

Okay, I've expressed my fears and hopes about The Fault in Our Stars on this blog many a time. And since I know some awesome people (Liesl, the children's buyer from the Bookstore, and Jill from Penguin Young Readers,) I got pre-showing tickets to the showing of TFIOS in Denver.

MY EMOTIONS WERE VERY MUCH HAYWIRE

It was a school night the week before finals, but HELL YES I said yes because if I didn't I would be an idiot.

Taking my mom (who introduced me to the book,) my sister (because family,) and my friend from Teen Advisory Board, Zoe, we drove to Denver to see TFIOS TWO WEEKS-ISH EARLY.

My friend Zoe and I (before the show because after we were too busy crying to take a good #selfie)

The people were (understandably) paranoid about people filming the movie on their phones so we had to sign a waiver, get a ticket with a number, and then put our phones into plastic baggies, then leave them with a legitimate security. 

My emotions before/during/after the movie

In order to get into the theater, we had to get scanned like TSA with handheld detectors. Again, I understand the precautions but it was still so weird but still awesome I WAS SEEING THE FAULT IN OUR STARS TWO WEEKS EARLY EVERYTHING IS SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS AND TEARS OF JOY BUT ALSO SADNESS BECAUSE TFIOS IS SAD.

My thoughts on the movie itself

This is abridged, but I was so pleasantly surprised with how they handled the movie. Seriously, I was very scared because it's a movie adaptation of one of my favorite books and since when do those do well?

But they actually did a great job.

Like, all of us were so awed and pleased and crying throughout the movie.

It was moving and sweet and heartbreaking and fantastic.

I chose this gif because it makes me laugh and cry. Just like the book.

But I will say this, I hate the fact they cut a lot of stuff that I REALLY REALLY wanted to see. Like a lot of stuff with Isaac, and cute Hazel/Augustus moments. But I definitely understand that they had to cut stuff to make the movie commercial length, and what they left was awesome and told the story well and kept to the book. So I forgive them.

If it were up to me, the movie would be seven hours long with extra stuff with Gus and Isaac and the parents and the college friend and everything and everyone ;) slash :D and also a little of :'(

BEFORE I FORGET LOOK AT THE THING ATTACHED TO OUR SEATS FOR THE RESERVATION I TOOK HOME BOTH OF THE SIGNS:

I'M VIP!!! (and also apparently called "Liesl" but just ignore that part ;) )

We all enjoyed the movie and the experience, and you all need to see my sister's snapchat about the heartbreaking aspects of the movie:

I am so glad to have this opportunity, thanks to Jill and Liesl for giving it to me, I'm so grateful. Everyone needs to see this movie!

Well... after they read the book ;)

Sincerely, 

Owyn

P.S.

THE DIRECTOR FAVORITED MY TWEET HE KNOWS I EXIST

EVIDENCE.

IT WAS AN AWESOME BUT HEARTBREAKING-BECAUSE-THE-BOOK-AND-MOVIE-ARE-SAD DAY. 

Reader Quirks

I've revealed to you guys my Bad Reader Habits and my Readability Scale. Now I'm going to tell you my reader habits.

What are reader habits, you ask? (okay you're probably not asking but I'm still going to explain) It's the things you do while you're reading.

I know.

Revolutionary.

Maybe you sit in the same chair. Maybe you need complete quiet. Maybe you're upside down hanging from a chandelier and that's the only situation you can read. Maybe you like drinking tea while you read.

I have couple different reader quirks myself. Allow me to share.

Reader Quirk #1: I can read anywhere

I can read in a car, plane, airport, room, bed, sofa, school desk, etc. I can read outside, inside, on the beach, in the snow, in the dark (if my iPhone light is on, otherwise it's a pain.) I consider this a quirk because I have not met many people who can read in cars. People get carsick or headaches (my mom and sister are pretty bad offenders) and they always always ask me "how I do it" when they see me reading in moving vehicles.

Reader Quirk #2: I will often react physically when a book is making me feel things.

And I'm not talking about crying. I'm talking about shoving my face in between the pages I'm reading when something cute happens between love interests, shouting "GAH" whenever a character does something stupid, or throwing it somewhere when it's pissing me off. NO. NO.

I *had* to use this gif

Reader Quirk #3: If I find a passage interesting, I earmark the page.

This is actually my favorite quirk because I love re-reading books so I can just jump around from bookmark to bookmark, looking at the parts of the book that either make me happy, emotional, or laugh out loud/mentally.

Here are some examples:

My copy of *The Art of Lainey*

My copy of *To All the Boys I've Loved Before*

What quirks do you guys have? Leave them in the comments!

Sincerely,

Owyn

NEW TO-READ LIST

I have decided my Summer Resolution for myself is to read more classic/older books and recent/maybe older memoirs and maybe just some books geared towards adults because I'm almost 18.

I've realized I read a lot of teen stuff, and not that there's anything wrong with that, I just really want to check these out.

I may not finish them (just because they're "classic" and "long revered" doesn't mean they necessarily please my personal tastes) but I will write a review for each book I read on this list. And still post reviews of the teen books I read.

DISCLAIMER: This list might expand because BOOKS. And it's not in order.

Classic/Classic Enough Stuff: Will be referred to "Classic Stuff Reviews"
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (1951)
The Country Girls Trilogy by Edna O'Brien (1987)
Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (1590)
The Princess Bride by William Goldman (1971)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813)
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (1940)
Heartburn by Nora Ephron (1983)
The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde (1893)
Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse (1934)
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (1940)
Portrait of a Lady by Henry James (1881)

Modern Adult Books: Henceforth known as "Adultish Book Reviews"
Wallflower at the Orgy by Nora Ephron (2007)
Meet Me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan (2013)
When in Doubt, Add Butter by Beth Harbison (2012)
Sweet Love by Sarah Strohmeyer (2008)
Vanity Fare by Megan Caldwell (2012)
(more will definitely be added but I can't think of any more at the moment)


Memoirs of Young and Old: AKA "Memoir Review"
I Don't Care About Your Band by Julie Klausner (2010)
I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron (2006)
My Misspent Youth by Meghan Daum (2001)
Popular by Maya Van Wagenen (2013)
Crazy Salad and Scribble Scribble by Nora Ephron (2012)
I Remember Nothing: And Other Reflections by Nora Ephron (SHE'S MY IDOL) (2010)
Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich (2002)
Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (2012)

Plus all the teen books I want to read.

ARC Review: Art of Lainey

NOTE: I read this back during spring break but I was re-reading it and I almost forgot how awesome it was so I needed to share.

The Art of Lainey is the tale of Lainey Mitchell, who decides to use Sun Tzu's Art of War to win back her ex Jason who dumped her in public. This plan includes being mysterious, stealth ops, and fake-dating her punk co-worker Micah.

First off, this book is an AWESOME teen romance summer read. It has the elements of drama, sexual tension, and fun plot.

*IN DETAIL BUT NOT SPOILERS*

The ROMANCE I loved the romance in this book. And not just the sexual tension (but definitely that too,) I really enjoyed what the book had to say had about the topic of "all's fair in love and war." I loved Lainey's parents' relationship and how people need to take a break after long relationships and the fact they used a "Dead Chinese Warlord's" military strategies to win back your ex because that's just awesome.

Fun but plot-filled. Not all summer reads have to be devoid of all thought, and this one had great character development (especially for Lainey) but it wasn't those long, ceaseless books that ponder things and mull them over. There was action (romance action, not cars exploding) and drama and awesomeness.

Sexual tension. I mentioned this earlier, but this deserves some more words on the subject. The dialogue that came into play with the tension between Micah/Lainey, Lainey/Jason, and Leo/Bianca was just so awesome and clever and every time there was a particularly good burn I mentally cheered because when done well (and this was DEFINITELY done well) I love sexual tension.

Definitely keep your eye out for this book this summer! It's fun, awesome, and hilarious! 49 Wars out of 51!

Have a lovely day!

Owyn

Trends in YA Lit

Continued title: And whether or not I'm a fan of them.

Most kind of medias have trends that ebb and flow. Thankfully, some are good and stay a while (like empowering female leads,) and some are bad but eventually dissipate (paranormal romance THANK GOD WOW.) Here's a breakdown of trends I've been noticing and whether or not I approve (and why.)

Modernizations of Classic/Older Lit

Is this good? Occasionally

Why? Sometimes, re-doings of things have gotten to the point of cliche, like the billion Romeo & Juliet adaptations that are out there that make me want to bash my head in because IT'S NOT A LOVE STORY DAMMIT BUT THAT'S HOW THEY MARKET IT AND IT MAKES ME ANGRY, ALONG WITH STORIES ALONG THE SIMILAR VEIN.

But, on the other hand, these can be good because re-doing things in new light can be AWESOME. Awesome-but-similar like Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice or a badass extension like Dorothy Paige's Dorothy Must Die. I think putting well-written modern twists on stories help keep the classic alive and well so I think some modernizations have merit.

LBTGQ Themes 

Is this good? YES

Why? Teens are going through a lot of changes and discovering their sexuality. Books often offer different perspectives and solace for them. While I think it's awesome there are stories for those discovering/having problems with coming to term with their sexuality, there need to be more books about the relationships and them as people and not just gay people.

A Guy's Point of View

Is this good? Definitely

Why? I kind of feel like the majority of teen/YA/New Adult are written about and for girls, and not that that's wrong, I just think there needs to be a balance. I also think it's fun to read things with more POVs than I think I'd read normally. Plus, I haven't met enough boys who read and "girls are icky" so we need to work on expanding their demographic because they certainly aren't themselves.

Boys *scoffs*

Sex

Is this good? Depends...

Why? I'm not really sure how to write this so I'm just going to say it: Showing consequences of unprotected sex and showing couples making mature decisions are great because sex is a BIG DEAL and I don't care what some movies/people/TV shows (initially) say and I think not addressing that is the bad part. But look at Judy Blume's Forever... ! It was published almost forty years ago, and I can't think of more than five books that handled sex as well as Blume did. So this trend needs to be improved, but I still think it's helpful.

Death of a loved one/Cancer/Memory Loss

Is this good? I AM NOT EQUIPPED TO ANSWER

Why? I don't think I'm in a position to actually judge whether this is good or not because I have not really lost a loved one, had cancer/had someone close to me get cancer, or experienced memory loss. I'm never really sure if the emotions are being accurately described and, personally, I feel a bit awkward that I can't relate as well as things I have gone through. But I also think it's a good to get new perspectives on things and I like to think that people can find solace in books, especially in ones that are relating to what they've been through, so I'm glad this trend is a thing.

Abuse/Rape/Sexual Assault

Is this good?

NOT AS EQUIPPED TO ANSWER AS WELL

Why? I think if it's well-handled, then it needs to be out there because people are too afraid to discuss this topic and it's something that definitely needs to be discussed. Otherwise, when it's poorly written (cough cough The boy who sneaks in my bedroom window,) I genuinely think it's an insult to the people who have gone through it. They deserve the things representing what happened to them (not necessarily their exact transcript of what happened, mind you) to be well-done. Not poorly like the author wrote it in one go without consulting anyone and thinking everything's happy and awesome and flowers.

Travel

Is this good? YES

Why? I've noticed this in some ARCs I read over spring vacation, but books like Royally Lost and Wish You Were Italian are just two that I've noticed in the (hopefully) growing trend of teens travelling to different countries and the experience they gain. It's awesome because maybe people who can't travel can live vicariously and people who can travel can relate to those experiences and I just think it's an awesome way to tell the fabled "hero's journey" by having a literal journey.

Plus, hot foreign people are always a bonus.

If you have any you've noticed, feel free to leave them in the comments! Or list some examples of these that you'd like to recommend. You can never have too many books to read ;)

Sincerely,

Owyn

Book Review: Dorothy Must Die

NOTE: I read this as an ARC but it was published on April 1st.

Dorothy Must Die is the start of a trilogy by Danielle Paige. It's about Amy Gumm, a Kansas girl who is whisked away to a dystopian Oz and roped into a dangerous, mysterious plot to murder Dorothy, who's gone mad with magic and power.

This book was badass. Allow me to explain:

*WITH MINIMAL SPOILERS*

The characters: With quirky names, traits, and back stories, the Ozians were fun companions to Amy's story. I really liked that everyone was flawed and "wicked" because, for a fantasy involving a girl being taken from the "real" world to a crumbling, famous one, they were fairly relatable. I really liked how I ended up feeling about the characters, like how I rooted for the witches, flying monkeys, and the munchkins...

YOU GO, GUYS! 

And rooting against Dorothy, the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and the Lion.

GO AWAY AND LOSE, DAMMIT

The realm: The Wizard of Oz was one of my favorite stories and movies when I was younger, and I had the twisted pleasure of seeing it morph into something terrible that needed to be fix by a seemingly run-of-the-mill "trailer trash" girl. It's an awesome world to get sucked into, and the aesthetics of it are awesome.

The premise: Everyone knows that there are no "original" ideas anymore, but we could at least have interesting twists on the old ones. I'm sick of the same reboots being done over and over and over. We should do more stuff like this. I think Paige did a great job taking the conventions of the original story and putting them in a fucked-up world with ideas and new conventions that our current world can offer.

Fancy phrasing aside, this book made me feel badass reading and hopefully you'll feel that as well when you read it. *cough cough*

9 Demented Dorothys out of 10. Yay!

Sincerely,

Owyn