Meme mememememe me?
Day 03 - The best book you've read in the last 12 months.
Hm. Hard to say... I've read some awesome books this year (not as many as I'd planned, but still...). But I think I'm going to have to go with the one I'm reading right now. It's an amazing book and I highly recommend it to everyone. It's called The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. I first heard about it through one of the children's/YP librarians I've been in contact with through work, she mentioned how much she loved it, how powerful, moving and beautifully written it was. And these librarians? They know their stuff. I took notice.
So I filed the title away in my brain and added it to my 'wishlist' on Shelfari. I wasn't sure when I would find a copy, but I never expected it to be so quickly. There's this wall of book shelves in my office at work, mostly filled with freebies we get through work and lots of uncorrected book proofs etc. I was just glancing at the shelf last night and what title should pop out at me? That very book. I have been devouring it ever since. It really is a stunning piece of fiction, surprisingly funny, about a teenage girl, Lennon 'Lennie' Walker, and how she deals with the grief of her older sister's sudden death. It's a coming of age novel that does the genre justice.
Go. Read it. Now.
Day 04 - Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 - A book or series you hate
Day 06 - Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 - A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your "comfort" book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?
Spent most of the day with lemniciate , first having dim sum in China town and then spending god only knows how many hours in a coffee shop talking and talking and talking and talking and... I think you get the drift. It was a fab day and I can't wait to do it again NEXT weekend when sillyshy is here, IN THIS COUNTRY, to join in the epic talkage. *flails*
So yes, Jenn insisted I do this 'My Five Favourite Things I've Ever Written' meme and I said I'd do it tonight, so here it is. This was kinda hard. I had trouble just thinking of ONE of my fics I liked best when talking to her today... D:
1. Sundays [Merlin]
I like Sundays because I took a risk. The structure is different and I'm pretty sure there are a lot people that didn't/don't like it - it's very untraditional. I played around with structure (with numbered paragraphs and run-on sentences) and axed all speech marks, trying to make it as introverted and intimate to Arthur's character as possible, like everything in the story came directly through him with no other filers, not even me. It doesn't always work, there are still bits that make me cringe, but in all I'm rather proud of myself for having tried.
2. Hello Darkness, My Old Friend [Merlin]
I like this because it's a bit self-indulgence and I can't bring myself to care or feel embarrassed about it. The world I've set this AU in is pretty much taken directly from Robin McKinley's Sunshine (vampires as they should be done) - I even stole her narrations style and wrote it in first person from Merlin's POV -- very risky choice in fandom! Also, this was so easy to write... it pretty much came out of me fully formed.
And I fucking love the title. Go me.
3. They Would Overcome the World [ST:XI]
This was written in answer to a prompt - a stupid prompt that I wanted to twist and try and do seriously. I know a lot of people didn't read it because of the premise (which was a surprise to me, as I thought it was just so... romance novel trope that people would gravitate to it like I did) and because of people's reticence about it I became embarrassed of it for some time. I felt suddenly naive. However, I loved writing Kirk and Spock and making like I was a hardcore science fiction geek, nothing can take away from that feeling. I'm really proud of myself for trying to write my honest to god OTP. :P
4. In Medias Res [Merlin]
This fic is just... it's one of the quiet fics that I know few people will read because, hey, it's very depressing and has main character death. Nobody in fandom likes reading that - but I knew this take on the reincarnation trope had not been explored and I am so happy that I did. It feels very personal to me, probably more so than any of the other fics I've written.
5. Pendragons Are NOT the Only Fruit [Merlin]
This is on the list not so much for content but for length. I've NEVER written anything this long before and I am so delighted/astonished/proud that I stayed the course. It feels like I really achieved something and the next step (writing something novel length) isn't that unreachable.
So there you have it, Jenn. :D
Hm. Hard to say... I've read some awesome books this year (not as many as I'd planned, but still...). But I think I'm going to have to go with the one I'm reading right now. It's an amazing book and I highly recommend it to everyone. It's called The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. I first heard about it through one of the children's/YP librarians I've been in contact with through work, she mentioned how much she loved it, how powerful, moving and beautifully written it was. And these librarians? They know their stuff. I took notice.
So I filed the title away in my brain and added it to my 'wishlist' on Shelfari. I wasn't sure when I would find a copy, but I never expected it to be so quickly. There's this wall of book shelves in my office at work, mostly filled with freebies we get through work and lots of uncorrected book proofs etc. I was just glancing at the shelf last night and what title should pop out at me? That very book. I have been devouring it ever since. It really is a stunning piece of fiction, surprisingly funny, about a teenage girl, Lennon 'Lennie' Walker, and how she deals with the grief of her older sister's sudden death. It's a coming of age novel that does the genre justice.
Go. Read it. Now.
Day 04 - Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 - A book or series you hate
Day 06 - Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 - Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 - A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 - Best scene ever
Day 10 - A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 - A book that disappointed you
Day 12 - A book or series of books you’ve read more than five times
Day 13 - Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 - Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 - Your "comfort" book
Day 16 - Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 - Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 - Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 - Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 - Favorite kiss
Day 21 - Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 - Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 - Most annoying character ever
Day 24 - Best quote from a novel
Day 25 - Any five books from your "to be read" stack
Day 26 - OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 - If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 - First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 - Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 - What book are you reading right now?
Spent most of the day with lemniciate , first having dim sum in China town and then spending god only knows how many hours in a coffee shop talking and talking and talking and talking and... I think you get the drift. It was a fab day and I can't wait to do it again NEXT weekend when sillyshy is here, IN THIS COUNTRY, to join in the epic talkage. *flails*
So yes, Jenn insisted I do this 'My Five Favourite Things I've Ever Written' meme and I said I'd do it tonight, so here it is. This was kinda hard. I had trouble just thinking of ONE of my fics I liked best when talking to her today... D:
1. Sundays [Merlin]
I like Sundays because I took a risk. The structure is different and I'm pretty sure there are a lot people that didn't/don't like it - it's very untraditional. I played around with structure (with numbered paragraphs and run-on sentences) and axed all speech marks, trying to make it as introverted and intimate to Arthur's character as possible, like everything in the story came directly through him with no other filers, not even me. It doesn't always work, there are still bits that make me cringe, but in all I'm rather proud of myself for having tried.
2. Hello Darkness, My Old Friend [Merlin]
I like this because it's a bit self-indulgence and I can't bring myself to care or feel embarrassed about it. The world I've set this AU in is pretty much taken directly from Robin McKinley's Sunshine (vampires as they should be done) - I even stole her narrations style and wrote it in first person from Merlin's POV -- very risky choice in fandom! Also, this was so easy to write... it pretty much came out of me fully formed.
And I fucking love the title. Go me.
3. They Would Overcome the World [ST:XI]
This was written in answer to a prompt - a stupid prompt that I wanted to twist and try and do seriously. I know a lot of people didn't read it because of the premise (which was a surprise to me, as I thought it was just so... romance novel trope that people would gravitate to it like I did) and because of people's reticence about it I became embarrassed of it for some time. I felt suddenly naive. However, I loved writing Kirk and Spock and making like I was a hardcore science fiction geek, nothing can take away from that feeling. I'm really proud of myself for trying to write my honest to god OTP. :P
4. In Medias Res [Merlin]
This fic is just... it's one of the quiet fics that I know few people will read because, hey, it's very depressing and has main character death. Nobody in fandom likes reading that - but I knew this take on the reincarnation trope had not been explored and I am so happy that I did. It feels very personal to me, probably more so than any of the other fics I've written.
5. Pendragons Are NOT the Only Fruit [Merlin]
This is on the list not so much for content but for length. I've NEVER written anything this long before and I am so delighted/astonished/proud that I stayed the course. It feels like I really achieved something and the next step (writing something novel length) isn't that unreachable.
So there you have it, Jenn. :D