Book Photo Challenge: Part 3

During the month of August, I've been (poorly) trying to keep up with this photo challenge through Tumblr and Instagram.  I'm cheating a little bit with this round of photos because not all the information is being presented in photos--I don't have a picture of the book I wanted to include for my Book Recommendation, and I felt my Favorite Blogs would be most easily presented just as text.  Anyway, I hope my numbering system isn't too confusing and I'm looking forward to collecting another week of pictures!

17 // A Book Set in Your State or Town - I'm proud to call the setting of Diablo Cody's memoir Candy Girl, Minneapolis, Minnesota, my hometown.
18 // Favorite Ending - Life of Pi author Yann Martel's novel Beatrice and Virgil is crazy.  Most of the book moves pretty slowly, and while I was reading I almost put it down a dozen times because the lack of action just seemed so pointless.  But that's because it's just all building up toward the most insane, shocking, and powerful ending I've ever read.
19 // Funniest Character - Georgia Nicholson from The Confessions of Georgia Nicholson series!  This series by Louise Rennison is told through diary entries by a teenage girl living in England, and begins with the book Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging.
20 // Book Recommendation - Okay, one of my favorite books to recommend is Zeitoun by Dave Eggers.  This is a true story of what happened to a Muslim-American family living in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and it really introduced me to the terrifying results prejudice can lead to in the United States.
21 // Longest Book - I've read some pretty long children's and young adult books, such as the Deathly Hallows, but because those books are such easy reads they hardly seem to count.  The Gravedigger's Daughter by Joyce Carol Oates was 582 pages long and took over a month to read, but I love Oates' writing style which made it all worth it.
22 // Bookstack - A few days ago, a secondhand store down the street from me was having a 50% off sale with paperbacks for only 25 cents, and I was excited to actually find some books I've been meaning to read for a while.  I love digging through used books and trying to find the best deals--in fact, I hardly ever buy books full price anymore.
23 // Fictional BF/GF - I've always had a tiny crush on the husband from The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger.  He works at a library, has great taste in music and art, and has the perfect amount of tutored soul.  Need I say more?
24 // Favorite Blogs - I read blogs in every category, but a few of my favorite writing/book blogs include Dead White Guys, Hazel & Wren, and Wise, Ink.

Parts 1 and 2 of my Book Photo Challenge can be found here and here.

Happy end-of-summer!
Elizabeth

"But the book was so much better!"

You’re leaving the theatre after seeing the latest book-to-movie adaptation.  Your legs are still cramped from sitting for the past two hours, and the smell of popcorn and thick carpet lingers in the air.  Almost as if planned, you hear the inevitable words drift from someone’s lips; maybe your own, maybe a friend’s, maybe a stranger who had been sitting a couple rows over. “I liked it,” they say, “but the book was so much better!”

I’ve heard these words so many times that they’re starting to lose their meaning.  Even though it has been widely accepted that the book will always be better than its movie counterpart, fans feel adamant about pointing out this fact, along with exactly what choices the film should have made instead. 

Like most avid readers, I agree that the book is almost always better (the exception usually being if the book was terrible to begin with), but it’s this last part that always gets me.  No two people read a book the same way.  Individual readers will always have their own impression of what the characters and setting look like and their own list of favorite parts that absolutely should have been included. 

Nevertheless, I love movies, and I’ve learned to see this phenomenon not as something to complain about, but as something to celebrate.  Directors, actors, and filmmakers are artists too, and by watching the film adaptation of a book, I like to think of it as if I’m simply getting to see another artist’s interpretation of that piece of literature.

Of course, the film industry isn’t always about pure art, and I want to address this distinction as well.  Hollywood might glamorize characters and events to make them more visually appealing, stretch out a single book into two films (such as for the last Harry Potter and Twilight volumes) primarily to make more money, or even cast primarily white actors just to satisfy racist moviegoers who envision their heroes a certain way.  These are just a few examples of legitimate reasons to be upset that a movie adaptation came out a certain way, and conversations should definitely be had about these issues.

But when it comes down to a favorite scene being left out, or a setting not appearing a certain way, I try not to let it get me down.  Instead, seeing a filmmaker’s interpretation of a book, and how it differs from my own, can be a fun way to reflect back on why I loved the original book so much in the first place.

Some film adaptations I thought were done especially well include:

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

Holes by Louis Sachar 

Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (I preferred the American version.)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Some upcoming films I’m curious to see are:

Carrie by Stephen King (especially how it compares to the 1976 film, which I love.)

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

And the one film I thought was better than the book:

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (neither was great, but at least the movie had a killer soundtrack and some really beautiful shots of rural Washington.)

Stay cool,

Elizabeth

Bloglovin?

Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

This is just a quick post to mention that I'm on Bloglovin.  Check it out, but also be sure to spend some time outside on this beautiful, end-of-summer day.

Happy reading,
Elizabeth

Book Photo Challenge: Part 2

I'm back with round 2 of the photos I've collected for Books & Cupcakes' August Book Photo Challenge.  I'm uploading my pictures to Instagram and Tumblr as I go, but since I've been so bad at keeping up with it they're coming out at weird times and slightly out of order.  Sorry.  Anyway, that's part of why it's nice to keep track of them here; where I can see the photos laid out all orderly and organized.

9 // New Book Discovery - Short story collections!  It's so interesting to see a writer's signature style from so many perspectives.
10 // Favorite Author - Neil Gaiman, of course.
11 // Reading Outside - This is one of the best things about summer.
12 // Sunny Book Cover - I wasn't sure what this meant until I scanned the other books posted under this tag, but finally dug out the two sunniest cover designs I could find.  Though they look a bit more like sunsets than bright, daytime sun.
13 // Bookish Item - My two favorite bookish items are my Books. Cats. tote and Gatsby flask.
14 // Back To School Reads - I don't buy textbooks for another few weeks, but here are some books from past classes that I've especially liked.
15 // Book Store - One of my favorite Chicago bookstores is Myopic Books in Wicker Park.
16 // Favorite Fandom - I couldn't find a good picture of the Harry Potter books so I had to settle for this, even though I can't stand J. K. Rowling's adult fiction. Quit while you're ahead girl!

This has been fun!  Be sure to check out Part 1 of the challenge here.

Read on,
Elizabeth

The Real Problem with "Sick-lit"

According to some news sources, in particular The Daily Mail, a new (made-up) genre of YA fiction is rising in popularity.  “Sick-lit” is defined as books that exploit serious issues such as depression and illness, which in turn can be traumatizing for its readers.  Some titles supposedly included on this list are The Fault in our Stars by John Green, whose protagonist has cancer, and Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, which tells the story of a teenage girl who recently committed suicide.  Both books have received tremendous praise from both readers and critics.

So the fact that there are people who believe sick-lit is a legitimate genre is itself sick.

It’s true that some doctors claim that exposure to novels dealing with topics such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and eating disorders have led to these behaviors in young teens.  This is extremely tragic, and I believe people for whom these books may be triggers should have the ability to pass up on them if necessary.  

But consider the alternative of not exposing teenagers to these topics: by not having a healthy, supportive way to be introduced to serious issues in the first place, teens are being sheltered from the realities of the world.  Fiction, as well as art as a whole, gives us a way to examine our own lives from a unique lens.  It draws attention to topics that might have otherwise been ignored by starting conversations and introducing new perspectives.  And I find it hard to believe that those who have actually read these books really think its authors are writing them out of morbid enjoyment; it’s clear from the first page that authors such as John Green are handling their difficult subject matter with complete respect.

After all, it’s not as if cancer or depression will magically go away if we stop talking about them.

Though I personally am not a huge fan of YA lit, I realize that this genre has recently grown exponentially in popularity among both teens and adults, and I applaud authors who are using this genre to shed light on the issues real teens are facing.  Discussing depression, terminal illness, and other serious topics through literary fiction does not romanticize the subject; instead, it proves that these issues are real, and serious, and worth knowing how to handle if the time should ever come.

Here are the titles of a few more literary young adult books considered “Sick-lit” by certain dumb adults:

Never Eighteen by Megan Bostic

Before I Die by Jenny Downham

By The Time You Read This, I'll Be Dead by Daelyn Rice

Red Tears by Joanna Kenrick

So Much to Live For by Lurlene McDaniel

Zoe Letting Go by Nora Price

Read on,

Elizabeth

Can Creative Writing be Taught?

Most people grow up believing that the best authors, at least the true, bohemian, artsy types, only write when inspired.  We imagine that words spew from their pens as one raw, release of emotion, a brilliant catharsis of insight that comes out already polished and perfect on the page.  Writing is a gift granted only to a select few.  And the thought that anyone can be taught to write creatively is absurd.

For many years, this was my thought process as well.  Even when I started taking creative writing classes, it wasn’t because I believed my writing would get any better.  It was just a fun outlet; a chance to practice a skill I thought I was mildly okay at.  Instead, I learned just how much of creative writing is a process, and I was surprised to see how much my style grew and evolved as I studied this skill in a rigorous, academic setting. 

It’s still not easy to teach those aspects of creative writing that aspiring writers tend to want to know about the most, such as where to get ideas, but these points don’t end up being what’s important after all.  Learning that writing is work, and acknowledging the process that goes behind creating and revising a strong piece, is fundamental to the pursuit of writing, and something I would not have learned without my creative writing classes.

One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in class is how to take criticism.  It’s easy to feel as though I’ve worked so hard on a piece that I don’t need to revise it any more, or be so embarrassed by a piece that I don’t even want to take a second look at it.  Writing workshops force its participants to share their work with others, and discover what is actually coming through to their readers.  It can still be hard to hear that something isn’t working, but rejection is a part of the writing process, and simply teaches the writer what to work on.

In addition, a good writer is able to give effective feedback to others as well.  From writing workshops, I’ve learned how pick out specific places where another writer’s piece may seem strong, weak, powerful, or useless, instead of simply whether it is good or bad, and explain it to that writer in specific language. Furthermore, a good critic strikes a balance between compliment and criticism; a writer will always be more encouraged to revise if they can see what is working as well as what is not, and being able to point out these distinctions is an important lesson in any area of writing.

Finally, most of what I have learned about the writing process and industry has come from discussions in my creative writing classes.  Even if my classes tend to focus on the craft of writing, the exposure to different styles and authors has given me a stronger picture of the industry as a whole.  In addition, I can steal what I see in another writer’s style for my own writing, and learn from the techniques they use.  This information is priceless if I plan on pursuing a career in writing.

It is easy to be skeptical of an area of study that is so rooted in creativity, but learning how to effectively get one’s vision across is valuable information for any type of writing.  Creative writing is just one niche way to explore that skill.

Study on,
Elizabeth

Book Photo Challenge: Part 1

Toward the beginning of the month, I stumbled upon this August Book Photo Challenge by the Tumblr blog Books & Cupcakes.  It's hard to stay motivated to do anything more than sleep in, lay out in the sun and eat cheap food during the last month of the summer, so I love that this challenge has kept me motivated to keep thinking about books over the next few weeks.  A daily update of this challenge can be found on my Tumblr, but below is a recap of the first eight days.

1 // Whatcha reading? - The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
2 // TBR Pile - Mine is made up mostly of books I bought discounted or borrowed from friends.
3 // Your Bookshelf - Mine is currently the underside of my desk, as most of my books are at my parents' house in Minnesota.
4 // Bookmarker - Favorite bookmarks include ticket stubs, bookmarks from my writing center, and free bookmarks from Unabridged Bookstore.
5 // Where You Read - I can't fall asleep without reading before bed.
6 // Favorite Book Cover - I love the design of Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog and the back cover of Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
7 // Words On A Page - This super short story by a third grader, which reads, "If I had a sidekick he would watch TV.  He would watch TV and eat chips and Nutella." resonated with me for obvious reasons.  Who doesn't want to be this sidekick?
8 // Most Reread Book - Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I've had a lot of fun coming up with what to snap a picture of for these first eight days.  Hopefully I can keep up with this challenge for all of August!

Read on,
Elizabeth