A rare little thing called "originality" and the definition of beating a dead horse.
Barnes & Noble is always an adventure of sorts to me. Whether it be that I'm rushing in to use the bathroom, or shoplifting (only joking!) I always end up spending a lot of time browsing new books. I wandered over to one of the big tables, stacked with what they labeled as summer reading for teens. City of Bones looked good, and I read good reviews online, but the moment I saw Stephenie Meyer's name and quote on the cover, I put it down and thought, "Maybe next time..." It's fascinating how much her name revolts me now, since once upon a time, I adored her. And then I went to rehab.
Browsing the YA section, I just have one thing to say: I am so sick of these fantasy stories where a girl moves into a new town or goes through some life changing event, gains some weird power or something else that makes her oh so attractive to the fantasy species of the author's choosing, meets "mysterious" boy from said species, falls madly in love in about two seconds flat, and [insert rest of story here]. I don't read a lot of YA books because I feel like they usually aren't developed as well as regular novels, and the characters are usually shallow. If I ever get sick of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, it'll be thanks to reading the backs of these books. This theme/story plan is so fucking overdone, authors need to know that 1) it's not "unique" anymore, and 2) it's just plain dumb now.
This lady came up to me while I was browsing shelves and immediately started suggesting a series to me. "The Sookie Stackhouse series, the books that the show TrueBlood is based on, is AH-MAY-ZING." She even pointed to where the books were.
So I flashed her my best I'm-trying-not-to-be-socially-awkward smile, and said, "Yeah, I already read them. I love it." Which is all true.
She seemed pleased with herself and tapped the book in her hand. "This one, Dead and Gone is the latest."
That book came out a while ago, so I don't know why she was buying it now if she's such a big fan, but I didn't say anything and instead what went on in my mind was, "QUICK! WORK ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS!" So my social awkwardness superpowers kicked in and I just gave her that smile, nodded, and kind of did nothing. COME BAAAAAACK, I WANT TO BE FRIENDS FOR TWO MINUTES. After she left, a million potential conversations went through my head. Should have definitely asked if she preferred Eric or Bill, because Eric is WAAAAY hotter.
That amazing story aside, I bought a few books (because I like to buy faster than I can read), a couple magazines on dSLR photography (because I WILL master it), the Time Magazine Michael Jackson special (RIP MICHAEL!!), and I knocked over a book on display into the information desk and the man working there, because I'm good like that. Oh, I also bought some Godiva dark chocolate pearls because the packaging was so nice and I'm a sucker for dark chocolate.
Browsing the YA section, I just have one thing to say: I am so sick of these fantasy stories where a girl moves into a new town or goes through some life changing event, gains some weird power or something else that makes her oh so attractive to the fantasy species of the author's choosing, meets "mysterious" boy from said species, falls madly in love in about two seconds flat, and [insert rest of story here]. I don't read a lot of YA books because I feel like they usually aren't developed as well as regular novels, and the characters are usually shallow. If I ever get sick of the sci-fi/fantasy genre, it'll be thanks to reading the backs of these books. This theme/story plan is so fucking overdone, authors need to know that 1) it's not "unique" anymore, and 2) it's just plain dumb now.
This lady came up to me while I was browsing shelves and immediately started suggesting a series to me. "The Sookie Stackhouse series, the books that the show TrueBlood is based on, is AH-MAY-ZING." She even pointed to where the books were.
So I flashed her my best I'm-trying-not-to-be-socially-awkward smile, and said, "Yeah, I already read them. I love it." Which is all true.
She seemed pleased with herself and tapped the book in her hand. "This one, Dead and Gone is the latest."
That book came out a while ago, so I don't know why she was buying it now if she's such a big fan, but I didn't say anything and instead what went on in my mind was, "QUICK! WORK ON YOUR PEOPLE SKILLS!" So my social awkwardness superpowers kicked in and I just gave her that smile, nodded, and kind of did nothing. COME BAAAAAACK, I WANT TO BE FRIENDS FOR TWO MINUTES. After she left, a million potential conversations went through my head. Should have definitely asked if she preferred Eric or Bill, because Eric is WAAAAY hotter.
That amazing story aside, I bought a few books (because I like to buy faster than I can read), a couple magazines on dSLR photography (because I WILL master it), the Time Magazine Michael Jackson special (RIP MICHAEL!!), and I knocked over a book on display into the information desk and the man working there, because I'm good like that. Oh, I also bought some Godiva dark chocolate pearls because the packaging was so nice and I'm a sucker for dark chocolate.