London Bridge is Falling Down: The City of WhoLock

By Caitlyn Tendick

 

I could describe how the Tower of London isn't really a tower at all, or try to explain to you the slightly offensive man that hangs out in Trafalgar Square with a hawk.  I could tell you about the Underground and explain the unique scent that bellows from the tube openings or I could tell you about how the city is overwhelmingly massive and a force to be reckoned with.  I have heard many times about how magnificent

London is and there are plenty of travelers, bloggers and writers that I’m sure could paint that city in such a way that makes you believe that the clocks are dripping with gold and the royalty has left its mark in jewels everywhere you go.  The thing is, London isn't a town for poetics.  I think to give it poetics actually does it a disservice.

I was there with two friends this past November and while I had been there before, I think I enjoyed the city much more the second time. It is big and it is overwhelming and it is hard to take everything in all at once.  Now, there are plenty of stories I could tell you about my trip there; all of which seem so insignificant and monumental when I think of them now.  But, since my blog mainly seems to be about stories and about writing (or the lack thereof lately) I want to spend my time pointing something out to you fellow readers and travelers that I think does not get discussed enough.  London is no longer a real place.  It has ceased all economic or world power that we think it holds.  No. London is a story; a conglomeration of different tales and legends all combined into one anthology.

 

Think about it for a moment.

You have Big Ben where Peter, Wendy, Michael and John, all flew past on their way to Neverland and where Jack and Rose danced to Glenn Miller’s Moonlight Serenade.

You have the old Dickensian streets playing out before your eyes, the dirt and the grit of a smoggy London filled night rolling through the alleyways and the twisting down the cobbled side streets that still exist.

You have Fleet Street, home of the demon barber and the tavern dedicated to him where you can get a fantastic meat pie and a glass of mulled wine.  Just ignore the image of a flashing blade as you exit that night and hope that the streets are a bit crowded as you weave back home on unsteady and travel logged feet.

You have the black smoke that reaches out from the gap on the London Underground, stealing away the people that are easily forgotten if the gap is not minded.  Out on the streets there are numerous the forgotten alley’s that we all pass without a second glance, never aware of the portals that are contained at their end.  Door and Neverwhere’s slew of characters are waiting down there.

Shakespeare’s Globe sits in the heart of this town, old stories of betrayal and murder playing out inside its dome while out on the outskirts of the nightlife and bustling roads, Charles Dickens house still sits.  His walls are covered with words he wrote a long long time ago and his writing desk still sits empty, waiting for another story to be composed. 

Connecting these two worlds is the infamous London bridge that we see knights riding across to go to jousting tournaments, carrying favors from their ladies while the bridge itself holds echoes of markets and women hanging from windows to call down to the men below.  Then, it is beneath these bridges that ghost stories were made and where hands reach up from the icy tombs they have been banished too, beckoning the lone wandering as they try to find their way home.

By Caitlyn Tendick 

All the while, Big Brother is apparently watching us in this city, giving a whole new meaning to the London Eye.  But, James Bond is protecting us, racing his numerous flashy cars up and down these roads while wearing designer suits bought from the shops in the ritzier part of town.

There’s Hogwarts Great Hall, Sherlock’s Baker Street, and the fear that the Doctor has instilled in us that something horrid happens here every single Christmas season.  You have Kings Cross Station with Platform 9 ¾ and while not fiction, the gruesome images of Jack the Ripper still haunt the passages leading through the forgotten parts of the city.

And let us not forget that Spike and Drusilla were once from here and that Oliver begged for more at some point in time.  Let’s also remember that Canary Wharf was attacked by Cybermen or that Nick's High Fidelity record store is tucked between other crumbling business in the cheaper side of town. 
 

RomComs have their lovers meet outside the National Gallery in front of the lions. Diagon Alley is hidden somewhere in this city an hidden inside the tunnels are tales of secret meetings and deceit.

There are countless moments that we think of when we think of Europe.  It calls up images of Arthurian Legend or pilgrimages from the Canterbury Tales.  London is always at the center of it all and has continued to be there throughout the ages of literature.  Because of this, it is with a firm hand and tone, that I am declaring London to no longer be the city in which we believe that Queen resides or one in which we even call a part of our world.

London, is not a real place. London, is a book that we somehow have the ability to step inside and have been granted the privilege to walk its pages.

You can find Caitlyn Tendicks pictures here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/97205176@N06/.  Go give her love and then like me on Facebook.

Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

3/5
***


Children fighting a battle well beyond their years, taken from their homes before they even really got the chance to live, thrust into a world that makes them adults quicker than they ever should. Ender's Game has some harsh topics worthy of exploration and it is easy to see why this is a series, given the amount of room this author has created in his world. However... I was not a fan of this book.


As I say the above, I almost feel as if I should apologize. As said in some previous posts, this is one of those novels that has always been floating in my reading vision. It was a book that if you hadn't read, you had at least heard about. It's iconic. It's probably considered one of the fundamentals of Sci-fi. But, as I curled up on my sofa, a cup of coffee in hand, looking forward to a book that is so revered, I was disappointed. The only thing that I really took away from the story after a good three hours of reading was this was a “guys” book. And I hate using that term because I know there are females out there that enjoy the type of writing I'm talking about (big explosions, lots of immature insults to each other, more big explosions). Hell, I'm even one of them when the mood strikes me. However, Ender's Game was slow moving except for the numerous descriptions of battle that took place. The action in between the battles/training was filler at best. Character growth felt choppy, any connections that were supposed to form between characters felt very flat, and most of the in-between scenes talked about fighting, or involved fighting in the halls of the school.


Though, to be fair, most of those complaints I just listed happened at the school where our main character, Ender, was taken for training in the upcoming war. When we stepped back home and got to visit his brother and sister, I found myself enjoying the novel much more. Valentine and Peter were intriguing reads and I think I would have much rather read an entire novel about them.


Also, lets address the weird dialogue choices in this book. These are children. Small small children. Yet, they spoke better than adults. Now, in Ender's case, I can at least justify it. He is in a school where he is forced to grow up. I see what the author was going for there. But what about in the case of his siblings? Why were they small children with eloquent tongues and brilliant minds? Was this explained and I just glossed over it? Therein lies one of the fundamental issues with me and this book. There were things that we as a reader were just supposed to accept but we were to accept them with little to no information about the world or time that the book was taking place in and often times, these facts were just kind of thrust at us in such a way that they didn't stick. I didn't even know that the aliens being fought looked like bugs for a good amount of the novel and probably wouldn't have known if they hadn't kept calling them buggers.  Though, I am fully ready to admit that might be on me and the lack of attention I was able to keep on this book.


Now, obviously this novel isn't all bad because I gave it a three out of five stars. I must admit that some of my amusement for this book comes from the fact that this very homophobic author had several naked wrestling scenes throughout his story. Should something like that make me smile? Yes. Yes it should.


The true reason it has gotten a three star rating though, and the reason why I'll most likely read it again in the future in hopes of giving it another shot, is the ending. There is a plot twist at the end that made me giddy for the first time. The pay off that I had been waiting for did actually show up during the last fifty pages or so and, if I'm being truthful, around page two hundred, the book did catch my attention much much more. Pretty much the moment things got 'real' so to speak is when I started enjoying it. Now, this sort of payoff works fantastically in novels because it is the last thing you remember before ending the book. It leaves you with good feelings that bump up star rating and make you rethink your previous opinion (honestly, without this ending, it would have gotten a two star). However, it is the authors job to make the novel entertaining before this point so you don't put it down or dread reading the next chapter or two.

I know plenty of people that do enjoy this book. I'm not saying its a bad one. I'm saying that I found a lot of fault in it that I personally couldn't get past. It was too big Hollywood, summer Blockbuster movie for me. I'd seen it before and I will see it again. That being said, I need to give it some credit because while I have seen this story before, this one came first. You can easily see the influence that this book has had over such things as Hunger Games, Mass Effect, Halo and so on. For that, I do have respect for it. But is it a novel that holds up over time? Not really.



If you are an avid reader, I'd say read Ender's Game because its iconic. At least then you can make up your own opinion. If you are someone that has trouble reading in the fist place though, or know that Sci-fi isn't really your thing, give it a pass.

That being said, I will go see the movie because Harrison Ford. Yes. I did just say that. :)

For more of what I'm reading this month: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/10/october-book-reads.html

And be sure to like my on Facebook and follow me on Google+

Let It Snow -- I'm Swooning like I'm in an 80's movie

I needed this book. I needed it in a 'light some candles and relax in a hot bath' kind of way. As I write this review, I will try my hardest not to shower you with my overwhelming love for John Green. I will try not to explain to you guys in several different ways how he is a fantastic young adult author and that I love him for not having rippling biceps anywhere in his books. I will try to contain myself over the fact that he writes teens, especially teen nerds, in such a way that makes you swoon. Let's face it though. I probably just lied to you.

Let It Snow is a series of three short stories, all taking place over Christmas. It originally appealed to me because John Green writes one of these said stories. Also, I have a soft spot for Christmas. There is something about the mass amounts of twinkle lights, the idea and in my case, hope for snow, and the smell of a ginormous tree that takes up your entire dining room in your tiny one bedroom apartment, that just makes the holiday magical. No? No one else has trees like that?

Let it be known that I have a certain prejudiced against young adult novels. I think a majority of them shouldn't have been published and when I walk into the young adult section at Barnes and Noble, the one I used to spend hours in as a child, I am overwhelmed with pictures of shirtless, hairless, man-boys and girls with doe eyes and glossy lips. Soft. Core. Porn. This is not to say that I think we should shy away from sexuality in teen novels nor do I think it is something we should be making taboo. But, when I see almost every book jacket gooped up with these images, all I can think is that Fabio and Edward Cullen have done the impossible and have somehow made a baby. This said vampire sexed up child is now gracing the covers of poorly written novels. Or at least what I assume to be poorly written novels. I might never know either because I don't tend to crack open those books which is probably a flaw on my part since they could be hiding a literary gem. I highly doubt it but I'm trying to give the benefit of the doubt here.  

But seriously.  What is that?

My point is, I don't like young adult novels. The teens in them annoy the shit out of me and most of the main characters are whining females concerned only with vapid tendencies that are important to them and only them. I know. I know. There really are people like that in the world and we tend to notice it the most in teenage girls. This isn't exactly an inaccurate portrayal. But, are teen girls this way because we are shaping them to be these self centered, dramatic, 'I can't believe she is wearing the same dress as me' type of person? Or are they this way because its what they truly want to be? Better people and much smarter people can probably answer that question. I simply can't believe that a majority of teens are that shallow and one dimensional as a human being. More on that later.

Now I won't go over plot details with you so as not to spoil the stories but I have to say that two out of three of these stories made me feel like I was sixteen again and falling head over heals for the boy in first period. I was smitten while reading these and that has been one of the things that I think sets John Green (and I'm going to include Maureen Johnson in here too) aside from other authors. Both Green and Johnson created characters and a corresponding romance that was genuine, unique, funny, and filled with all the first time cringe worthy moments that make us feel alive.

Maureen Johnson is not an author I have read before but I will be seeking out her other work soon. She had the first story in the Christmas trilogy and had me hooked with her writing style from the first page. The fact that most of the story centers around a Christmas house collection called Flobie Village and the insanity of people who are collecting them, endeared me to her in ways that I don't think is healthy. I will admit I was looking for something wrong with her section of the story, my teen novel prejudice coming out to play. But, the moment that I thought I had found it in her portrayal of cheerleaders, another character came along and called the main character out on this generalization. Not that the generalization didn't have some truth, but the author did acknowledge that this is not the case all the time.

The love story of this tale was by far my favorite and by the end, I was cheering on the nerd boy, wanting him to win over the nerd girl. I want to see future stories of these two characters and see what their nerd babies turn out to be. I want a conclusion to the Flobie Village catastrophe!

Next was John Green. I love John Green. A lot.

Again, the romance and the characterization in this story were believable in the awkward 'hey we're real people' way. What I liked best about this switch of authors and characters was that while it still mentioned the characters introduced to us in the fist story, a whole new set was given to us, each with their own distinguished personality. Green captures different voices in a way that I am continuously envious of. Furthermore, the way he writes females makes me so happy. And that's kind of where my love for the first two stories comes down to. I feel like Johnson and Green give voice to a female character that I embodied growing up, and didn't feel was represented in media.

In an epic battle to get to a Waffle House, in the middle of a snowstorm, Green tells another love story and the quest for hash browns. It is perfect in every way and during those brief moments when the characters stop acting as old friends and have to navigate the new waters of a potential relationship, I was hiding under the covers, my heart beating fast, agonizing over whether they would be together or not in the end.

These first two stories made me nostalgic for high school again. They made me want to be that awkward teen that didn't know what the hell she was doing or where she was going or if she was smart/pretty/funny/etc. Both Green and Johnson portray the jumbled mess that is the teenage years in a stomach twisting, butterflies swarming and heart skipping kind of way. I love them and want to wax poetics about them forever.

Then we got to the third story. Now, off the bat, I was against Lauren Myracle's section of the story. Her main character was the embodiment of what I hated about young adult novels. The girl was shallow and spent the first five chapters dramatically relaying to her friends in that attention fishing way (Go look on Facebook. You'll find an example of this kind of person, I'm sure) about how her and her boyfriend were no more and it was all her fault and she was so sad and the world was ending and bla bla bla. I hate characters like that. We see them frequently and I often feel like adults view all teens as this mass of superficial, dramatic, things. They don't tend to realize the complexities of the person before them or how the cheerleader might go home at night and be the oldest of several siblings that she is trying to help take care of. They see the artificial part and that's about it. That's what this characterization felt like. Again, I know there are girls like that in the world. I know there are guys in the world that are exactly like the character of Charlie in this book and think they are Gods gift. I'm not saying that this is inaccurate. I just hate that voice to a dramatic extent because there is so much more of a story to tell. I want to know what's behind those personalities. I don’t care about the shade of nail polish they are wearing.

Now, I'm going to be a bit spoilery so if you don't want to have slight plot points given away, scroll down until I yell at you in unnecessary caps lock and bold type face.

I soothed my soul by saying that Myracle was simply giving voice to another aspect of teen life. No, it's not an aspect I like, but it is an aspect I have to accept. Then, a nice thing happened. The author acknowledged the self absorption of the character. Seeing that was like someone turning a sweet smile at me. I was very pleased.

While Lauren Myracle's was my least favorite of the three stories, I was happy to see the turn around that happened there. I still didn't like the character in her story much, but that is a matter of personal preference. The best part of the third and final story in this novel, however, is the fact that at the end, every character you've met along the way, merges together in the middle of a Starbucks coffee shop while oohing and awing over a baby pig. It brought the story full circle and allowed us to see interactions between characters that we wouldn't have otherwise gotten to see. It was the kind of music swelling ending that you want to see at the end of a feel good movie where you may have binged on ice cream.

OKAY YOU CAN READ AGAIN!

The baby pigs made you read that paragraph. Admit it.

Let It Snow is sigh worthy. Is it for everyone? No. Absolutely not. I know a lot of my feminist friends that would turn their nose up at this story with a kind of disdain because it is a teen love story and 'how could that possibly be interesting compared to stories written by Joyce or insert other classic author here'? I know others that are going to go 'that sounds too sickeningly sweet for my taste'. I know I thought that before

reading it. If it wasn't for John Green and the subject of Christmas, I never would have read it. But, it touched every little piece of my hopeless romantic heart that I often lock away in the closet because it leaves me swooning like a Disney Princess.

If you have no problems with swooning like a Disney Princess, though? Get this book. Do it. Also, go buy everything by John Green because he is the voice of nerd teens everywhere and is giving representation to a previously hidden away group of individuals who are exceedingly interesting.

And now I leave you with Sharpie Face.  Bestselling authors need to be more like him.

To see what else I'm reading this month click here: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-book-reads.html

Also, like me on the Facebooks and Twitters and all those soul sucking sites.

Redwall and a Tangent

Cover of Redwall (Redwall, Book 1)

Die hard Redwall fans.... don't hate me.

3/5 stars 

***

Before I start this review, I would like to go over something that I think plagues stories in the worst possible way. The exclamation point.

This elusive little creature denotes excitement or a tone of voice that differs from the usual pitch. It is meant to let people know that 'hey, this thing that's happening right now is being delivered to you with lots of feels and urgency'. This little guy is the 'strong emotion' symbol in the punctuation family and if left to its own devices, it will murder its siblings.

Less is more. Strong, declarative sentences from a character shouldn't have to have an exclamation point at the end of the sentence in order to indicate to the reader that someone is upset or excited. That should come from word choice or from the narration surrounding the sentence. Furthermore, exclamation points shouldn't be in the narration. The narrator is often times a third party that is omniscient. They don't need to become excited like the characters. It's weird. Don't do it. Exclamation points have their time and their place. They should not be used because the writer can't seem to convey in any other way, the characters feelings at any given moment.

Redwall suffers from the plague of exclamation. Every character seems to be yelling at each other in impassioned tones. Maybe that was a choice on the authors part. Maybe the idea of a small little mouse talking, deserved exclamation points because they had to talk louder when speaking to badgers or foxes. I don't know but I desperately am hoping that Brian Jacques didn't just throw a handful of exclamation confetti at his story because he thought it was a great way to make his dialogue more exciting or intense. Although, the idea of small creatures yelling at each other in constant excitement or anger is funny. Though, when I imagine a world where everyone always talked to each other in exclamation point sentences, it is not pretty. I think it would probably look something like this... except for the scary center part.

That is not to say the exclamation point didn't work in moments. One thing that I learned about Redwall is that it is over the top. Very over the top. So, when the main bad guy Cluny had to repeatedly announce his title to people as “I am Cluny the Scourge!”, I felt like the exclamation point was deserved. Cluny was kind of one of those bad guys that thought he was a lot more awesome than he actually was. The frequent reminders of his title to everyone he met, even people that are in his presence constantly, is a pretty good indication that the guys a dick who probably thinks he's a hit with the ladies and is what all little rats want to grow up to be. When the reality is, all the other rats are talking behind his back and making fun of him. No, this wasn't actually in the story but its the story I've decided to make up about him. Because really, I felt like most scenes with Cluny went like this:

Cluny: “I'm Cluny the Scourge!”

Any other character in the book: “What would you like for breakfast, Cluny?”

Cluny: “Cluny the Scourge does not order breakfast! People bring Cluny the Scourge breakfast without asking! I am Cluny the Scourge! You should know what I want! Cluny the Scourge does not ask! He simply receives!”

Other Character: “So cheese is fine, then?”

Cluny stabs other character: “That will teach you to ask questions of Cluny the Scourge! All others must see and fear me and my actions! Know that I will kill you because I enjoy it! Cluny the Scourge takes no prisoners!”

That's how I felt most of the story with the bad guy went. No motive other than he was a dick that obviously didn't get enough love from his mother as a baby rat. And yes, he often did seem to be a toddler throwing a tantrum.

Now, I want to make it clear, I didn't dislike this book. I just had some major issues with it. Yes, I'm aware its a children/young adult novel and there are a lot of people who are going to bring that to light as a counter argument. But you know what my counter argument to them is? Harry Potter is also a children's/young adult novel. So is the Hobbit, any of the Everworld series, The Outsiders and The Giver. You don't have to dumb down your book for children. They are much smarter than we want to give them credit for.

Now for the good things. I love the fact that there are no humans in this. I adore that the cast of characters are small little mice and squirrels and badgers, running around, trying to save what they love. Redwall has all the makings of a classic fantasy novel where the young and naïve main character has to rise to greatness in order to save the people and the land that he loves. It is a great introduction into a fantasy series (story wise) for people first starting to read. It holds unbelievable imagination and charm with its cast of talking little rodents and is very reminiscent of Wind in the Willows in that respect. There were parts that made me giggle simply because I got to imagine a tiny little field mice making declarative statements and holding a sword high in the air. It was fantastic. Plus, there was Silent Sam the squirrel who is quite possibly the most adorable thing in all of fiction.

I didn't particularly enjoy the story that was told but that was more to do with the fact that it is a very typical ABC story. In my mid twenties, I want something more out of my literature and the writing wasn't done well enough for me to enjoy reading a story that I've read a thousand times before. Redwall unfortunately suffers from having a storyline that is repeated throughout cinema and literature. But, I would again like to point out that this is a great introduction novel into the fantasy world in the respect that the story was good if you've not had much experience with this type of fantasy novel. The writing definitely left a lot to be desired, but if a child is struggling to get into reading, the story is probably more important than a good writing style. I don't feel like this tale holds up once you become an experienced reader, however, or if you are a beginning reader who enjoys a bit more than the surface value retelling of the hero's tale.

I'm afraid in the case of Redwall, nostalgia is what keeps it lasting. I wasn't a Redwall kid so much but I did read a few of them. I do plan on continuing on, at least through Mossflower because I do remember that when I read Redwall the first time around, I was pretty luke warm towards the story and characters.Mossflower was the one that gutted me.

Overall, I think Redwall is great for inexperience readers who are looking for an interesting fantasy to indulge in. For experienced readers, however (young children included), this might be a bit of a let down. Also, if you are an adult that loved this series as a kid, continue to love it. Don't go back and read it because like most things we re read when we're older, cringing may ensue.

To see what else I'm reading this month go to: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-book-reads.html

Like me on Facebook, follow me on Pinterest or Twitter, or send me a comment or message to let me know what you think!!!! (see what I did there?)

Screwtape Letters by C.S Lewis

3 out of 5 stars

***

C.S Lewis's Screwtape Letters is a series of responses written by Screwtape (a demon who seems to work in an office in hell) to Wormwood (a demon field agent out to corrupt the souls of the innocent). That alone was what intrigued me. Not only have I not heard a concept like that before, but using the mundane vehicle of an office letter seemed almost ingenious. It left out the dramatics that we usually find in stories about demons and instead told a more subdued tale. The demons truly did feel that they were right. The “Enemy” of the book was God and the angels who were tried to save souls and take them to heaven. Although, now that I think about it, the book seemed to go more with the concept of man is inherently good and is only corrupted due to a demons interference. The interference of angels was either severely downplayed, or they simply did not interfere. That being said, there was so much in this story, in the characterizations, in the concept, that could have been played with further. The lines between heaven and hell could have been blurred and the opportunity to show how morality is a big mass of blurry gray matter could have been highlighted beautifully with this story. Instead, I found Screwtape Letters to be very black and white.

Hell is waiting in line at the DMV

Sin is called into question in this novel easily. The demons of course are trying to encourage certain sins in order to corrupt the human soul. In this war between heaven and hell, the battle comes off as more of an office tiff while the humans are tossed back and forth between good and bad like some sort of tennis ball.  There doesn't really seem to be an in between area or an area where both the demons and angels are right at the same time. It is one way or the other which unfortunately, made the novel very bland. It is in my opinion, that there could have been a lot more to this book. And while I am very pleased that the letters didn't come off as preachy like I was afraid they would, the doctrine being taught here seems to be a very strict and rigid version of Christianity that leaves little to no room for any of the nuances or contradictions in the religion itself. I was very pleased to see the demon calling out the double standards that do exist, and honestly, that was my favorite part, but there was not enough of that.

Furthermore, it is not a book that can stand the test of time. It was well shaped to what Christianity meant during the time of publication, but in a world where the doctrine itself is starting to take new shape, and Christianity is acknowledging these moral gray area's in life, it does not hold up.

Now this is not to say that the book didn't do exactly what it was set out to do. Lewis was a known Christian author, writing in a time where religion was beginning to die and church attendance was declining. He lived on the precipice of change and challenge and I think that he wrote this book in response to that. So, the black and white nature and the demons immorality coming off as “sin” and the human triumphing over this corruption, was all very well tailored to this agenda. I'm not saying there was anything wrong with that and maybe if I was someone that was more of a theology person as opposed to a story oriented reader, I would have enjoyed this more. However, I found the words to be bland, the sentence structure to be a bit disjointed, and the sarcastic moments that were truly the gem of the story, to get lost in the rest of the droning monologues that were taking place. I wanted to see Lewis stretch his storytelling capabilities. I wanted him to make me understand why this demon thought the way he did. I didn't want the explanation of this is what “Our Father” wants and therefore we will follow through. I wanted more depth and shape out of these characters. There were moments that I felt Lewis almost went there, too. In one memorable letter, Screwtape discusses the emotion of love and calls into question whether or not God can love. His written conclusion comes off as panicked and portrays someone who is questioning his very beliefs system. In the letter following this one, we find Screwtape has been punished for his thoughts on the matter, hinting at the fact that this demon might have been an independent thinker going through a very typical human moment, where his faith was challenged. I wanted more of those moments. Diving into that kind of psyche would have packed a much more powerful punch and, at least for me, spoke more about morality than what was written. But, again, those moments that I saw Lewis start to play with were few and far between and they were over much to quickly.

Simply put, this was just not the book for me. I couldn't help wanting a different novel than the one I was reading.  Plus, this portrayal of a demon may have ruined me forever.

Screwtape Letter's is an interesting read and if theology interests you, I would recommend it. But, if you are more of a story oriented person, I would give this one a pass. It was interesting to read Lewis write an epistolary novel, though, compared to Narnia.

If you want to see what else I've been reading, here is my June bookreads (I know, I finished this a bit late): http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-book-reads.html

and my July bookreads thus far: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/july-book-reads.html

Anyone else read this book or heard anything about it? It wasn't known to me until quite recently but apparently it is a popular piece of literature that has been adapted into several plays and a radio drama.

July Book Reads

Not all the reviews for my June books are up yet. I'm still working on the Annotated Peter Pan and on Screwtape Letters. Both should be done pretty soon but I like taking my time with Pan. There's a lot to dive into with that story and I want to make sure I'm soaking it all in. So, continue to look for those but in the meanwhile, I figured I'd start on my July list as well.

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Knights, damsels in distress, wars fought across generations and quests that seem dismal during the dark of night. Also, mice. Rats, birds, mice, frogs and toads. That is our cast of characters.

I see the cover of this book and I immediately think of my brother. He read them when he was a kid and when I got to be a bit older, he gave me some of them to read as well. Being the Harry Potter kid I was, though, I think I struggled to get into this story for whatever reason. Too many creatures talking, not enough of wizards casting. Although, I remember that I did read this book and the proceeding one Mossflower, then balled like a baby when a certain character died. Close to twenty years later, that's all I remember about the story. That being said, it's the same reason I picked up the book again.

I've always had trouble remembering details about stories. Books that I read as a child, I'm lucky to now even remember the main characters name. I'd like to think that it's because I've learned so much in life that little things like names and events have to get pushed aside in order to learn something new. Most likely, however, I just don't pay close attention to things because my brain likes to frolic off in fields of daisy’s or break into some horrible Disney movie song.

Side note: Is it just me or does that stupid Beauty and the Beast, Belle walking down the street song, get stuck in anyone else's head?

The fact that I remembered the character who dies and that I remember the main mouse to be Martin, speaks highly of this story in my mind. Little me wasn't big on details. Little me loved to read but tended to get lost very easily in other things. The fact that I deemed these details important enough to still remember, and to stick with me the way it did, is interesting. I'm curious to see how I feel about this book now that I'm reading it with the cynical and often times, critical, eyes of a mid twenty something.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/redwall-and-tangent.html

John Dies at the End by David Wong

I know nothing about this book. Nothing. I was in Portland, Oregon over the weekend and attended a lecture done by Mark Oshiro and by lecture I mean the man read bad fan fiction to us. :P. When this book was brought up, he pretty much expressed in a sobbing voice that this book both broke him and blew his mind simultaneously. How can I not want to read it after that endorsement?

Like I said though, I know nothing about this book. I briefly skimmed the back cover but that is the extent of my knowledge.

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch

This is a sequel to a book that I have previously read called the Lies of Locke Lamora. If you have not read it, go do it now. The first hundred pages or so are a bit hard to get through, I will admit, but after that, the book turns into a whirlwind of swashbuckling scoundrels who have no choice but to take on the likes of a one man mafia. If you're curious, here's the link to my Goodreads review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/256659186 ) but I'd honestly suggest to just go pick up the book and read it. Months later, this book is still ruining me for all other novels.

(

Because of that, I of course had to pick up the second in the Gentleman Bastard series. Come on. That's the title of the entire series. It's a name that is such an oxymoron that it makes me giddy and plays right into the fangirling part that loves her pirates and scoundrels.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/09/red-seas-under-red-skies.html

Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

John Green may be the only young adult author out there that I have immense respect for.  I have no experience with the other two authors so we'll see what I think after I read this.  However, Green's writing deals with teen issues without it being melodramatic. That's always been my complaint with teen fiction. The characters come off as whiny and self absorbed. That's not to say teenagers aren't. They completely are. But here's the thing. Teens also have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Everything is new. They don't know how to handle certain situations until they've experienced them and experiencing them can often be terrifying. Maybe I'm not so far removed from the teen generation that I remember how scary it was to be that age and how much I hated it at times. Nothing would set me off more than someone telling me that “high school is going to be the best years of your life” because all I could think at the time was “You got to be kidding me? This is as good as it gets?”. John Green, I feel, understands that there is a lot more to a teenage head space than the whiny and prepubescent/hormonal driven thoughts that most teen novels portray. And bonus? None of his book jackets look like the covers for a soft core porn novel. That right there should make you like him.

Furthermore, take a moment and examine the below picture then try to tell me he's not an amazing man.

Green also runs a YouTube series called VlogBrothers and is a out and loud and proud nerd. Watch his videos. Read his books. Watch his brothers videos and if you are a young teen, listen to both of their advice on what its like to be a budding Nerdfighter. Also, understand that when someone says that things do get better, what they actually mean is that the current situation does get better but new ones are always around the bend so hold onto what you love in this world and understand that fiction can go a long way with helping you cope.

Let it Snow is most likely going to be one of those books that I hug at night and love with a little sigh of whimsy. I don't think that it would have been anything I would have liked growing up but in hindsight, I really wish I had read him close to a decade ago (WHY DIDN'T YOU PUBLISH SOONER GOOD SIR?!?).

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/07/let-it-snow-im-swooning-like-im-in-80s.html

On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Again, I know nothing. The only thing I do know about this book? It was a bitch to track down.

This is another young adult novel and since John Green's name is not plastered on it, I am nervous. As said above, teen novels rarely seem to be done right. I often cringe when I see people reading things like City of Bones or any of the other numerous books out there with pale pretty boys on the cover and some doe eyed girl in a nighty. I'm pretty sure this is not literature. I'm pretty sure this is some device used to brainwash the youth of the nation and make them into Barbies that have a vampire fetish.

Review Now Up: http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/08/jellicoe-road-by-melina-marchetta.html

Hopefully, Jellicoe Road is none of the above. The cover seems promising so at least there's that going for it.

:/

Okay, now I'm really nervous. Why, teen fiction? Why is there so much of your suck in the world?

Remember to like me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter or the various other time sucking social media sights out there.  

Also, if you have an good teen novels to suggest me, PLEASE DO!  I'm putting this in bold because I am going to force your eyes to read this and then use the force to get you to suggest books to me.  

I may love books a little bit.

Book Review - Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them

One thing that I really enjoyed about this book is the way Marjorie Taylor focused on dispelling some of the more negative aspects of imaginary friends. Just because a child creates an imaginary friend, does not mean they are lonely or there is something wrong in their developmental cycle. This was the mainstream belief until quite recently. Then, societies perception changed and suddenly, imaginary companions were viewed with prestige. Studies have shown however that having an imaginary friend does not mean that a child is special or is showing great signs of genius. These children aren't even particularly more creative when they are older when compared to other children. You know what a child having an imaginary friend does show? It shows that a child is a child. End. Of. Story.

Children create because they can. The ones who do not create an imaginary friend don't have an disadvantage or advantage over the ones that do. Their interest just lie elsewhere. Furthermore, it has been suggested that due to parental disapproval, most children don't even let on that they do have an imaginary companion.

Yes yes. Of course there are always the exceptions to the rules and there are always children who are going to create imaginary friends to fulfill some sort of need they are not getting or to play out a desire or even to manifest a problem into a form they can understand. But those are the stories we hear about. They are not necessarily the norms.

“In my daydreams I was training myself to be a fool; in mapping and chronicling Animal-Land I was training myself to be a novelist.”

                               ~C.S Lewis on his imaginary world he used to play in as a child.

This book originally interested me due to its topic. In my own story (Dear God let it be published and finally done with one day) I write about imaginary friends and what happens to them when children stop believing they exist. My premises falls into one of the harsher views of the imagination where one little girl couldn't distinguish reality and fantasy quick enough and so her parents decided to put a stop to it. While reading Imaginary Companions and the Children Who Create Them, I must admit that I was a little horror stricken to find out that this scenario, doctors, priests and all, isn't a far stretch. I would like to note, however, that I do make the distinction in the story that this is one case and not an all encompassing view. Her friend, in fact, navigated this world and the imaginary one quite easily.

But where does that imaginary friend go when the child stops seeing them? Often times, kids let go of these companions without much thought and the companion itself is then deduced to a memory that may be recalled every once in a while. This, is one of the many subject that I try to touch on in my novel. So of course I needed to pick up this book because lets face it, Google search can only give you so much. Plus, most sights about imaginary friends out there were starting to make me sick seeing as it was mostly message boards about concerned parents not knowing what to do with the idea that their child was talking to something they couldn't see.

That's another good point this book makes. Children often times know that what they are doing is make believe. They can distinguish between reality and fantasy. They just continue to play in the fantasy world long past the point of comfort for some parents. It's natural. It's fun. And they are entertaining themselves in a way that doesn't include the acid trips that pass as children's television these days.

Seriously. What the hell is that?

Upon reading this book, I didn't necessarily gain new information but it was nice to hear about the studies done in order to gain some sort of basis for this phenomenon that we often see within children. The chapters that most interested me were the ones on older children or adults having imaginary friends. There was even a small section about writers and how by the definition of an imaginary companion, most writers fall under the category of having one. As someone who writes, I constantly feel like my characters are doing or saying things that I don't necessarily plan for them. Yes, a majority of my story is a flimsy little idea in my head but I never solidify anything because I have learned over the years that you have to leave room for your characters to tell their story. So, when my characters go off and say or do things that I am adamantly against, or surprise me in ways that I didn't know possible, I am technically participating in an imaginary friend type relationship. The irony of this does not escape me seeing as the main character of this story is based on my imaginary companion as a child.

There are so many good things about this book that I don't even know what to cover and what not to cover. I would love to just swoon over all the points that the author makes and relate to you everything Taylor covers or share the passages that I underlined (or in the cases where parents think their child was talking to Satan, got genuinely mad at) but then there would be no point in you reading the book itself.

If you are interested in psychology, read this book. If you are interested in imaginary friends, read this book. If you are a parent, please please please read this book. It is informative and endlessly fascinating and the little antidotes that the children relay to the interviewer are often times priceless.

Did anyone else have an imaginary friend as a kid? Comment down here or share your post on my Facebook page. I'm always looking for new stories in order to further enhance the Imaginaries in my own novel.

To see what else I'm reading this month and for more reviews, go here; http://papertales4u.blogspot.com/2013/06/june-book-reads.html