Lending People Books

What a mixed bag. On the one hand, I want EVERYONE IN THE WORLD EVER to read my favorite books. I want everyone to understand the awesome, and I feel like if they just read this book, they will suddenly know the secrets of the universe and their lives will vastly improve. When someone reads a book that you've loved, they get to know you a little better, too, and you them. You bond a little on the astral reading plane. You've both walked through the same fictional world and met the same fictional people.

But lending books... Well, it comes with a certain risk factor.

Like the time I lent my annotated version of Lolita out and never got it back. The same happened with my second copy of Atonement. Then there was the time I lent my very best friend a certain favorite fantasy series of mine and it came back with dog-ears every twenty pages.

 

"But Gillian!" she said, mystified as to why I was bright red and gulping with rage. "That's how I read! I don't use a bookmark. When I reach the point I want to stop, I fold down the corner. Then, when I pick it up to read again, I never bother unfolding the corner, I just leave it down like the total heathen I am so I can visually see how far I've read. Why? Did I do something wrong?"

 

So after that, I gathered all my books about me like a crazy book lady, barricading myself in my house and telling the poor traumatized dears that from now on, it would just be me and them. I wasn't going to send them out in the world any longer. The people out there were dangerous. They didn't understand how books ought to be treated. Some of them drank coffee while reading. Some of them licked their fingers before turning a page. Nope. The books were staying with me. My friends would just have to deal with it.

See, this does not look unhealthy to me. This looks like good sense.

Okay, perhaps that's a slight exaggeration. I am, after all, committed to the cause of spreading the word about my favorite books. Nothing makes me happier than when I get someone to try a book they wouldn't have, or I get them to fangirl about something I like to fangirl about. 

And nobody should lend their books out if they're not comfortable (I mean, my books are part pet, part art--I adore them on a personal level, like they are living creatures, but I revere their wholeness and die a little every time they're damaged. Perhaps this is not sane, but SO BE IT). But lending books is a beautiful things. In high school and college, I was the biggest reader of all my friends. I've got the sagging bookshelves to prove it. I was the one friends asked for reading recs, and I knew I couldn't--wouldn't--stop lending. So I came up with reading ground rules to the Gillian Library.

of the Gillian Library

1. Always return The Book to me. There's no time frame, really. Just please give it back after you've read it.

2. If you decide you're not going to read The Book anytime in the foreseeable future, give it back to me. I'll re-lend it when you find the time.

3. DO NOT drink beverages around The Book. Do not eat soup around The Book. Keep The Book away from any and all foodstuffs that might spill or stain. Do not take The Book into the bath unless I say you can.

4. DO NOT dog-ear one single corner of The Book. Here is a bookmark. If you lose it, I will give you another. I have stacks.

5. If The Book is a hardcover, then no, I'm not giving you the dust jacket. The dust jacket will be perfectly preserved in a holy shrine until it is once more reunited with The Book.

6. Don't get mad if I don't feel like lending out that particular book. Maybe it's a book my grandpa gave me. Maybe it's a certain edition that I'm extra fond of. Don't worry. I'll find you something else you'll love more.

7. Treat The Book like you would want The Book to treat you.

8. Do any underlining or highlighting in The Book and I shall jam your writing utensil up your nostril.

9. I will not crucify you for every tiny imperfection in The Book. I'm not expecting it to return in mint condition, because The Book is out there living its life, you know? Every crease is a sign of love. But be gentle, please.

10. If a meteor does fall out of the sky and land precisely on The Book, ruining it forever, I will forgive you. Don't worry. Just be honest, do your best to save The Book (I am willing to teach book CPR and can do wonders with some clear packing tape), and apologize. Offering to replace The Book will earn you my unwavering devotion.


I'm not nearly as fastidious as this when I'm reading my own books, but you know? They're my books. Sometimes I dog-ear my own books, but I would never dog-ear somebody else's. So it's just a matter of courtesy, because books are so very personal, aren't they? They're our babies. We've loved them in a way we've loved few things, because few things get inside of us the way they do. If you're lending out your own books, you can set the ground rules. Don't mind dog-ears? Let people dog-ear. Really want your friends to underline the parts they like? Let them go to town. But if you're a book borrower, don't do anything to the book that the lender hasn't said is okay.

So now every day at the Gillian Library can be like this:

AND YOU GET A BOOK! AND YOU! AND YOU!

Do you have rules for book borrowing and lending? Do you ever lend or borrow? Have you had good or bad experiences doing so? Sound off!

Happy Birthday Giveaways!

Yes, that's right. IT'S MY BIRTHDAY. THE MOST HOLY OF DAYS. The day I turn... 22.

The day I become old.

Well, not old, really. Yet. To quote the poet of our generation, Jessica Simpson: "23 is old. It's almost 25, which is almost mid 20s." So I have at least a year before I devolve into total decrepitude.





In all seriousness, I love my birthday, and getting old is not a bad thing at all. I will always be a young adult no matter what. I just love to celebrate in general, which is why I also love my friends' birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, the Fourth of July, Halloween, even Arbor Day. YOU NAME IT, I CELEBRATE IT! Mostly by eating things and sending gifts. And since it's  my birthday... I want to give YOU gifts!



It makes sense. Don't question it.

I love being a book blogger more than I ever thought possible. This blog started out as a class assignment for my Women and Gender studies class. It wasn't even MEANT to be a book blog. Then I dropped the class, but never dropped the blog. And somehow books got involved and that was that.

So to thank you all for joining me and encouraging my book nerdery and inspiring me to become an even bigger book nerd than ever, and as a thank you to book blogging universe, for helping me make friends with even more book nerds, I'm launching a month-long spree of giveaways! This'll be the master-post for all of them, so keep checking back here as I update. There will be signed books, swag, author discussions, and more!

Win The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett
Win a signed copy of Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff
Win a signed copy of Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare, plus swag

Now let's celebrate!

Hell's candle. Don't put this on my cake or I'll punch you.

YA Trend Watch

Contrary to popular belief these are NOT the latest YA trends although maybe they should be

The other day, I noticed that a lot of female heroines had very similar names that start with K, which I thought was funny. I'm not the kind of person who's inherently for or against trends. I've read a lot of books I've loved that happen to fall into some of the trends I've noticed popping up in the YA world lately. So this list isn't meant to be a condemnation, nor is it meant to imply that authors made these choices just to hop on the badwagon. I just think it's just plain interesting how so many authors somehow make such similar decisions, even when writing vastly different genres. Obviously, I left out a lot of trends-- trends so vast, like books about mental health or angels or vampires or witches-- and limited it to more specific trends I've spotted among my recent reads.


Story Trends

Redheads Rule

Considering how few redheads there are in the population, it's amazing how many redheaded protagonists I come across in YA literature! I am a total red hair lover, though. I wish more than anything to be a natural redhead, and I'm actually thinking about dying my hair some day soon. Examples: America Singer from The Selection, Scarlet from Scarlet, Rachel from Defiance, Clary from City of Bones, Fire from Fire, Amy from Across the Universe, the twins in Delusion, Jacinda from Firelight, Alanna from Song of the Lioness, Gemma Doyle from the Gemma Doyle series, and many, many, many more.

On the Road Again

 

Road trips, baby!  John Green gets the appeal of a YA road trip, having written both An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns, but there's also Saving June, Reunited, How To Be Bad, Amy and Roger's Epic Detour, Two-Way Street, Thou Shalt Not Road Trip, You Are Here, Kiss the Morning Star, In Honor, including others.

Everything's A Competition
Well, there are people competing to stay alive in The Hunger Games, assassins competing in Throne of Glass, girls competing for a prince in The Selection,  teenage chefs competing on TV in Taste Test, the boys in The False Prince are fighting for a crown, and a whole lot more books are jostling for first place on your TBR list! And yes, that is the cheesiest joke I've ever made no it's not.

Rock On
So many books out there about famous and not-so-famous rock stars. Books like Audrey, Wait!, Being Friends with Boys, Where She Went, Decked with Holly, Born to Rock, Fat Kid Rules the World, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, Rock Star Superstar, Heavy Metal and You, etc.

Title Trends

It's All a Numbers Game
Revolution 19, 17 and Gone, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, Mila 2.0, 34 Pieces of You, Pretty Girl-13, Level 2, Monument 14, and even 3:59. And of course there are a billion where the number is actually spelled out as well.

"The Insert Title Here's Daughter", plus other types of daughters
The Madman's Daughter, The Mad Scientists Daughter, The Courier's Daughter series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Iron Daughter, etc. SO MANY DAUGHTERS.

"Bone" "Blood" "Shadow"
 
Before I read these three books, I honestly could not keep them straight. I can't tell you how many times I called it "Daughter of Shadow and Bone". After reading at least part of all three novels, though, I know they're all completely different and I'm able to keep them straight. But these are hardly the only three YA novels with one of these three words in their titles. There's Bloodlines, Shadow Kiss, next year's The Shadow Cabinet, The Ruby in the Smoke, Blue Bloods, City of Bones, Days of Blood and Starlight, etc. Which brings me to the BIGGEST TITLE TREND IN HISTORY but not actually.

"Stars"

For Darkness Shows the Stars, All These Broken Stars, The Fault in Our Stars, Starglass, Across a Star-Swept Sea, Defy the Stars, Days of Blood and Starlight (a DOUBLE WHAMMY), on and on and on. There are a LOT of stars. It's any wonder we can keep these books straight!


I'm not even going to get into all the cover trends going on, since that would be a VERY long post for another day, but these are a few to look out there, and I'm sure there are others I've missed. Now I'll just be over there reading the next book on my TBR list, The 2 Bloodbones Shadow Daughters of Stars' Racing Road Trip Ultimate Playlist starring Anne Shirley and Pippi Longstocking.

Tell me-- what YA trends have you noticed lately?

Negative Reviews: Why I Write Them and Why I Read Them

The other day, I wrote an admittedly biting review of The Prince by Kiera Cass. I went into it knowing I would probably not enjoy it, and I didn't. You could argue this isn't fair of me, and in some ways you could be right. I was pretty clear in the review that there is something about the series that keeps me reading, to their credit, which is why I read The Prince. I was hoping to like it. But I've also been pretty clear about the fact that I review every book I read except for the ones I don't finish. And that means I'm going to post critical reviews, because I will always express the way I feel. I'm not going to lie about my feelings for a book. And it just so happens I naturally express myself in jokes.

How some people see me

This is also not me (okay maybe it's me a little bit)

A book review blog is meant to review books. I'm more critical than the average person, and my job here as a reviewer is to point out to people what I felt worked about a book and what I felt didn't. I'm here to help other readers make informed decisions, even when I know a lot of people aren't going to agree with me. This is why it's great that there's such a variety of bloggers. You get as many varying opinions as you need to help guide you in the direction of books that will work for you. Before picking up a book, I always make sure to read negative AND positive AND in-between reviews. Because all of those opinions are valid. All of those opinions are correct.

The problem with this, though, is that I can get pretty mean. I'm aware of that. I've always thought published material, sent out into the world to be judged on its own merits, is eligible for whatever snarkery it incurs, but not all people agree. I get that. We're all human beings, and all creativity should be rewarded, not discouraged, right?

As an aspiring author, I should agree with this. I know it would probably break my heart to learn someone hated my work to such a degree that they felt the need to rip it to shreds. But let’s face it: that’s the deal. If you’re lucky enough to get your novel into the sphere of public consumption, some people aren’t going to like it. It’s a fact. Your book is not a hundred dollar bill or a really big cookie, which means it will not be popular with everyone. Case in point: some people hate chocolate. If chocolate isn't universally beloved, then your book doesn't stand a chance.

 

How much hate is too much hate? That's a personal question, of course, and everybody will have a different answer. I'm in the camp of people who don't believe in critical kid gloves. I believe that humor at the expense of a book is fair game (humor at the expense of the AUTHOR is a different story). I am also in the camp of people who think it is significantly MORE hateful to go on somebody else's blog and tell that person that they suck, that they're a bitch, that they should leave poor Author X alone, and that the blogging world would be better off without them.

Getting mean emails gives me the sads.

That, my friends, is the kind of internet hate I don't like.

When I post my negative reviews on Twitter, I never @reply the author with a link to my review. I do not go on the author's website and tell them how much I hated their book. I do not go to fan-sites or forums or tumblrs and tell the people there that I think their bookish opinions are stupid. Because they AREN'T. They just happen to deviate from mine, and that's okay.

I'll admit: I've got a snarky streak a mile wide. I LOVE ripping on books, movies, TV shows, and acquaintances who tick me off. I know that's probably not a serious virtue in my character, but it is what it is. I don't purposefully review books in the hopes that they are terrible and I get to savage them on the internet (except for Modelland, but that is barely even a real book). If I read a book I hate, you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to make fun of it in my review. I like humor. I'm going to make jokes. You can like it or lump it.

What you can't do is send me anonymous vitriol in email form. This is cyber-bullying. It doesn't matter how justified you feel, or how much you love the book I hate. Please, please, PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS.

Anderson does not approve.

A sampling of the super fun, super real comments I've received as of late:

i dont find sense in the things you say here. sorry, but your being a mean bitch here. please think about the authors you are hurting with your mean words. as if you could write any better than that

I think my favorite parts of that email were the sorry and the please. Your rudeness is so polite.

WHY did you feel the need to post such a vicious review on the internet? Don't you think there is enough hate floating out there? WHY do you feel the need to contribute more hate? I am sorry, but I will no longer be following your reviews. I am disgusted by this. As a lover of [book title redacted], I am deeply offended on behalf of the author.

This particular email has some sense in it (and also a basic command of grammar), even if those words did hurt. Yes, there is a lot of hate floating out there, and it's not my intention to contribute more of it. But I think going out of your way to send a message like this to a perfect stranger is a much more personal form of hate.



YOU ARE STUPID FOR THINKING THIS BOOK IS BAD. IT IS A BRILLIANT BOOK AND YOU OBVIOUSLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT A GOOD BOOK IS. I BET YOUR BOOKS WILL BE CRAP I HOPE YOU ARE PUBLISHED AND SOMEDAY SOMEONE WRITES A NASTY REVIEW OF YOUR BOOK AND I WILL LAUGH

 

The hypocrisy in this one is astounding. Not only is it ridiculous (I obviously don't understand what a good book is?!?!?!), but do you really not see that you are bashing someone for writing a negative review by advocating for someone to write another negative review? And also, I agree with you. I also hope I am published! I hope my future book is well-read enough that someone out there will write something horrible about it. Because, as said, books are not hundred dollar bills. No book is universally beloved. There will always be haters. Will bad reviews hurt? Undoubtedly. I'm a sensitive flower. I want people to like me and the words I write. But all a bad review means is I did something wrong in my writing.

"The novel is a prose narrative of some length that has something wrong with it." --Samuel Johnson

Also, notice a trend here? I am not getting angry emails from authors, or publishers, or agents, not even for the books I have received for review from said publishers. My review for Confessions of an Angry Girl, written after I received an ARC from Harlequin Teen, had a healthy dose of criticism. Harlequin Teen read the review and then retweeted it, saying they enjoyed reading it. Because, by weighting out the good AND the bad, I helped a lot of people decide whether that book was the book for them.

I want books to be good. I looooove books. Books are the be-all and end-all of my life. The vast majority of my reviews are positive because I'm pretty good at picking out books that I'm going to like. Sometimes, I get it wrong, of course, and sometimes I may go too far in critiquing a book I don't like. And I am sorry if I offend any of my readers, I truly am. That is not my intention. I want to make perfectly clear that I respect different bookish opinions. Everybody brings a lifetime's worth of thoughts, memories, and feelings to every book they read. Because of that, no two people will feel exactly the same way about a book. It's just impossible. A romance that may make Reader A swoon might make Reader B roll her eyes. Books are just plain subjective. Neither reader is right or wrong. Neither is stupid or smart. They just are.



Up until this point, the book blogging community has been nothing but an ultra loving place, full of collective bibliophilia and unending support. I know this experience is nothing but a fluke. The stream of hate mail I've gotten has prompted me to change my email, but it's certainly not going to make me change my reviewing style or leave the blogosphere entirely. So let's all have a BIG DRINK, plow forward, and leave this messiness behind, okay? I know of several good books we could read to make ourselves feel better.