Uncreated Conscience

Finally, a review! I’ve got several more in the works, but I need to start with GOING BOVINE, which I read ages ‘n’ ages ago. I love Libba Bray. No really. I love this woman. Biggest crush ever. Not only is she a phenomenal writer, she’s also ridiculously charming and funny and adorable in person. And she has an incredible singing voice with excellent taste in music. AND SHE HAS A GLASS EYE. THIS MEANS SHE IS MADE OF AWESOME.

GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray

Cameron’s just an ordinary 16-year-old boy looking to survive high school. Unfortunately, after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt–Jakob’s disease (the human form of mad cow disease), it looks as though he may not survive at all. The disease has no cure and is invariably fatal, but that doesn’t mean he’s giving up. One day, while hospitalized for treatment, a punk-rock angel with a bad sugar habit named Dulcie walks into his room and tells him there is a cure–if he’s willing to go on a quest.

What follows is a surreal road trip across the country with a hypochondriac midget named Gonzo and the Norse god Balder enchanted into the form of a lawn gnome as Cameron and his companions try to find Dr. X, a missing international rock phenomenon, and save the world along the way.

Libba Bray has called it, “The feel-good mad cow disease road trip book of the year”. She’s right. Never mind the fact that’s probably the only mad cow disease road trip book ever written. That doesn’t diminish my love one whit.

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I just realised that it’s been a while since I’ve reviewed any already published books.

Sometimes people gape at me when I describe the books I’ve read outside of work. “You mean, you can still read?” they ask.

Of course I can still read. Reading is what I do–not only for a living, but because reading is living. I read while I cook (which may explain why I never learned to cook properly), I read while I eat, I read while I put makeup on in the mornings getting ready for work (this may explain why I never learned to apply it properly), I read while walking on the way to the subway, I read on the subway (if I’m not knitting), etc. I have even tried–unsuccessfully–to read while taking a shower. If I don’t have anything to read at the table, I will resort to reading the nutrition panel of cereal boxes. If–heaven forbid–I finish my book before my subway stop, I will read the flap copy of the book of the person sitting across from me, the AM New York articles over the shoulder of the person sitting next to me, and failing all else, I will read the We This Expensive Law Firm Have Won Lots and Lots of Suits So Hire Us ads above the windows.

So I owe you a few reviews. Expect in the coming days reviews for:

• GOING BOVINE by Libba Bray
• RAMPANT by Diana Peterfreund
• EXTRAS by Scott Westerfeld
• HUMMINGBIRDS by Joshua Gaylord
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson

Busy, busy, busy little JJ!

As I have been given license by Dan to buy ALL THE BOOKS I WANT, I took him at his word and spent over $200 on novels last week. Many of these were for research purposes—to get a sense for the market, as it were—but let’s face it, the vast majority were books I wanted to read. There is something incredibly cathartic about spending that much on fiction without feeling the least bit guilty.

Firstly, I want to announce that submissions continue apace for the St. Martin’s New Adult Contest. Remember, contest is open until Friday, November 20, after which I will announce the winners of P.C. and Kristin Cast’s TEMPTED, as well as the writers from whom we’d like to see partials. We’ve received some really great submissions thus far.

Secondly, I want to discuss in a little bit more detail about “new adult” or postadolescent fiction and how the age of the protagonist isn’t necessarily the best factor in determining whether or not a novel is YA or adult. I read PREP by Curtis Sittenfield and ICE by Sarah Beth Durst over the weekend. PREP was published as an adult title, despite the fact that its protagonist is in high school, and ICE was published YA, despite the fact its protagonist is 18. Why?

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Autumn is in full swing in New York City, which means that JJ is approaching hibernation mode. My inherent tendency when the weather grows cool and the days grow shorter is to curl up under the covers with a White-Harp and read, read, read (and occasionally gorge on Indian food). I have about a million things I need to take care of (including grocery shopping), but my first reaction is to snuggle with a fuzzy Harp and never leave the bed. This means that not only errands are pushed to the wayside, but things like blogging and book reviewing are also forgotten.

I need an office

While I was in DC last week visiting Mum, we made a stop by the nearest bookstore for something to read. She wanted something light and funny, so I recommended David Sedaris’ ME TALK PRETTY ONE DAY, which I think she’ll enjoy, especially the France sections. Not so sure about the drugs and homosexuality though. Oh well.

I got myself Scott Westerfeld‘s LEVIATHAN, but I will admit it was a close call between that and Joshua Gaylord‘s HUMMINGBIRDS, both of which had co-op at the front of the store. But because I am cheap—and because I love steampunk—I went with LEVIATHAN. (The one advantage to being a lover of YA is that it is significantly cheaper than adult fiction.)

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Last night I burned my thumb on our oven. With my oven mitts on. I knew there was a reason I didn’t cook. Now there’s a tiny blister on the edge of my thumb that’s making it impossible to type.

Today is Bear and my 4-year anniversary. Who knew that missing an Arctic Monkeys concert in 2005 could be so fortuitous? The secret to our longevity? I will quote my Teddy Bear himself:

Come for the JJ, stay for the White-Harp.

Yes, everyone should adopt a stuffed baby harp seal into their home. They are the glue that holds relationships together.

Today is also the release date for three awesome books that I am dying to buy (but will most likely have to wait until I have more funds):

1. LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld (STEAMPUNK. CROSS-DRESSING GIRLS. YES.)
2. ICE by Sarah Beth Durst (remember, this one has POLAR BEARS)
3. HUMMINGBIRDS by Joshua Gaylord (I heard him read from it last week at Kettle of Fish and HOLY COW IT’S AMAZING. Also, it is about an all-girls prep school.)

Anyhow, I did promise to review PAPER TOWNS, which I read a few weeks ago and then wept like a baby once I finished it. For the record, FTC, I bought it. In paperback. Because I am poor. Just letting you know.

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As some of you might know, the FTC released new guidelines on product endorsement, which now includes books and book bloggers. To quote Ron Hogan quoting the new regulations:

Shortly after the Federal Trade Commission issued its “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” yesterday, the world learned that the FTC judges newspapers and blogs by different standards—while newspapers (and magazines, and radio shows, and TV shows) are able to receive consumer products for the purposes of review with no requirement to disclose the provenance of those products, the FTC’s stated position is that bloggers are receiving those same consumer products as compensation for a presumed endorsement: Nobody but a blockhead ever gave a blogger anything, according to the FTC, except for good reviews.

Excuse me while I laugh. The idea that I might generate even the tiniest bit of income from this blog is ridiculous. I blog because I love: I love to read and I love to blog about what I read. And for the record, I have bought the majority of the books I review on this blog, with the notable exceptions of LIAR by Justine Larbalestier and CATCHING FIRE by Suzanne Collins, the ARCs of which I borrowed from Russ. (And I went and bought the hardcover for CATCHING FIRE anyway, so nyah.)

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Another White-Harp review vlog! She stayed up so late finishing A CURSE DARK AS GOLD by Elizabeth C. Bunce that this one isn’t quite as coherent as her review of SHIVER.

P.S. You can follow her vlog reviews on YouTube or Vimeo.

Both she and I really thoroughly enjoyed it, and my review follows beneath the cut.

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A while back my friend Kate recommended THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti, but I never got around to reading it before yesterday.

THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti

Ren is one of the many orphaned wards at St. Anthony’s, hoping to be adopted by a family before he grows too old and must be shipped off to the military. Unfortunately Ren is at a distinct disadvantage: he is missing a hand from an incident he can no longer remember.

But one day a man enters the monastery claiming to be Ren’s older brother, spinning a fantastic tale about how Ren came to St. Anthony’s and about how he lost his hand. He leaves with this man, but learns very quickly this mysterious stranger is not what he claims to be. The man styles himself Benjamin Nab: a soldier, a sailor, a farmer, a fisherman, a grave digger—but it becomes clear that all these personas are false even as his connection to Ren is real.

I was initially led to believe this book was YA, but it is not. I wonder why it wasn’t marketed to the YA sector as a “crossover” novel because I definitely think it has potential. In voice and execution it reminded me a bit of Marcus Zusak’s THE BOOK THIEF, which was originally published as adult fiction in Australia before being marketed to the YA audience in North America.

CORAM BOY by Jamila Gavin

Marketing and publicity questions aside, the book THE GOOD THIEF reminded me most of is the English YA novel CORAM BOY by Jamila Gavin, which won the prestigious Whitbread Award in 2000. I saw the stage adaptation when I was living in London and then promptly bought the novel, but Gavin’s work failed spectacularly when transferred Stateside. I have no idea why; I thought it was haunting and Gothic and creepy, but critics were unimpressed. I mean, it was blurbed by freaking Philip Pullman.

On the other hand, Tinti’s work seemed to be well-received here, even though the story was essentially the same. They even take place around the same period of time, although one is set in New England and the other in London. Don’t get me wrong, I thought the novel was haunting and mysterious and quite gripping, but I kept thinking I’d read this before.

Recommended, although I would like to put in a word for poor Jamila Gavin. She’s pretty awesome, I swear! If you read THE GOOD THIEF, I suggest you also pick up CORAM BOY.

Ash by Malinda Lo

If any of you follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that I’ve been waiting (for what seems like forever) for Malinda Lo‘s ASH to be delivered to me from Amazon. ASH arrived at long last yesterday and I devoured the book in one sitting.

This review comes in two parts: a review of the book itself and a few thoughts on what this book meant to me emotionally: as a bisexual woman, as a person of biracial Asian descent, and my slight crush on the author whom I have been, um, online stalking ever since I heard about this book. (I’m not scary, I swear!)

ASH first came to my attention when buzz went about the YA blogosphere about the so-called “lesbian Cinderella”. It was garnering good critical reviews from book bloggers and I liked that a novel—a young adult novel—with queer themes was being so well-received. Not that young adult novels don’t deal with LGBT themes at all, but like other “minority” books, sometimes the story is all about the “issues” and not about, well, just the people. (Please see: my dislike of most Asian-American protagonists.)

ASH is a story about a girl recovering from grief and finding the will and desire to carry on.

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All is well in JJ's world

Here is a small fact about myself: the state of my bed is a good indicator of my physical/mental well-being. I am one of those people who absolutely cannot start a day unless my bed is made; I will even make my bed at the expense of being late to work. Heaven forbid I leave the apartment with my bedclothes in disarray; I will be an absolute grump for the rest of the day.

I told Rachel that if she should ever come home to find me missing, my bed unmade, and White-Harp still snoozing, call the cops immediately—I’ve been abducted!

My life can be reduced to a series of simple equations, the variables of which involve the bed and White-Harp.

1. Bed made + White-Harp tucked in = All is well in JJ’s world
2. Bed made + White-Harp gone = JJ is in New Jersey with Teddy Bear
3. Bed unmade + White-Harp on the couch = JJ is feeling sick/depressed/something else is wrong
4. Bed unmade + White-Harp still under the covers = JJ’s been kidnapped

I spent all of Friday and Saturday in a state of #3. Thursday night Rachel, The Inimitable Bex, and I went to a screening of Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid at the Brooklyn Bridge Park and I think I got sick from the damp. Consequently, White-Harp and I were relegated to our couch while I watched all of the original Star Wars trilogy with the commentary on this weekend.

Rachel and I both adore Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, but I remember saying to her that I resented Etta Place because I felt as though she interrupted the bromance between Cassidy and the Kid.

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