Discussion Post: Why the 90s Were the Best

Discussion Post: Why the 90s Were the Best

There's a couple of things that have prompted this post. I've been kind of reading this nonfiction book called Sexy Feminism (because kind of is how I always read nonfiction. I'll pick it up and read a chapter or two, put it aside for days, rinse, repeat. I'm lame, I know), and it made me think about my teen years when I was a pretty gung-ho feminist (not that I'm not now, but definitely not with the same energy that I was when I was 15 or 16--although I don't do anything with that kind of energy any more) that was spurred on by the awesome magazine that existed back in the day called Sassy. Reflecting on Sassy made me reflect on all kinds of other things that made the 90s an awesome decade to be a teen. These are just a few:

Sassy Magazine

Sassy Magazine was this insanely awesome magazine that existed from 1988-1994 which were my most formative preteen/teen years. Everything about Sassy rocked. It put real girls on its covers, and every issue featured work that real teens had sent in from poetry to short stories. It introduced me to books and music outside of the mainstream. It showed me a world that was so different from the one I was living in small town Wyoming. It recognized that not every girl was a blonde cheerleader (and even though I was a blonde cheerleader it wasn't the only thing I was). It talked about feminism in a way that made me proud to start identifiying myself as a feminist. It introduced me to the Riot Grrl movement and bands like Bratmobile and Bikini Kill.

I still have a stack of the magazine in a crate with my books--much to my husband's dismay, but I just can't get rid of them. The magazine went completely downhill after Jane Pratt, the editor, left and the magazine got taken over by a different publisher who immediately turned it in to every other teen magazine that has ever existed (Teen/Seventeen/YM, etc). It, of course, folded shortly after because the publisher obviously just didn't get the point: What made it so cool was its uniqueness. It was cool in that leather jacket, pack-a-day, bad-girl way we all admired, but kind of feared.

Jane Pratt eventually moved on and founded Jane magazine just in time for my 20s. Jane was pretty awesome, too, although maybe not quite as awesome as Sassy.

My So-Called Life

  

How to explain my love for My So-Called Life? I plan on doing a full review of the first, and only season, so I'll try to keep this as brief as possible. My So-Called Life aired during the 1994-1995 TV season and spoke directly to my soul. Everything about it was amazing. It was just so real. The friendships, the crushes, the parents (and mad props to actually giving the parents a real story line, too). Jordan Catalano. I was Angela Chase in high school, down to dying my hair bright red and having an obsessive crush on a guy in my algebra class for way, way too long. I recorded, and kept, every episode of this show on VHS and watched them over and over until the tapes stopped working. And then I bought it on DVD when the box set came out. I can literally recite whole episodes. I cried when I heard it got cancelled. Worst decision ever.

If you've never seen this show, you need to rectify this immediately. If you have seen it, than I know that I'm just preaching to the choir. 

P.S. I'm working on that full review. It will be up sometime this Spring. 

 

The Music:

 

 

Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole, Dave Matthews Band, Smashing Pumpkins. These bands, and many more, made up the soundtrack of my teen years. Shit, they make up my soundtrack now. Angst-y, loud, and made of awesome.

The Movies:

   

 

Clueless, Reality Bites, Empire Records, Singles, and Election are just a few of the movies that I watched over and over and over again when I was in high school. Other movies that teen me loved were 80s gems like Pretty in Pink, Say Anything, and Heathers, but I didn't think it was fair to include them seeing as how this is about how the 90s ruled. 

The Fashion:

 

Oh, Grunge. So fun, so comfortable, so full of plaid. 

The Books

I'd feel remiss not mentioned any books in this post, but this is a hard one. I absolutely loved The Secret Circle series and read the series repeatedly. It's when I first discovered Bret Easton Ellis (although I haven't been able to stomach anything he's written lately. Anybody else read the sequel to Less Than Zero? It made me want to cry). I picked up The Robber Bride after reading a review of it in Sassy. To this day, it is probably my favorite novel of all time.

You Could Disappear:

 

There were no cell phones and social media. I know that cell phones make life easier, but I cannot even imagine having to deal with mean girl shit on FB/Twitter/whatever site the kids are into these days. It seriously makes me break out into hives just thinking about it. The worst I ever had to deal with is three-way calling attacks.

No Caller ID or *69:

You could stalk (ahem, yeah no, stalk is the right word) that cute boy all you wanted. But you know he knew it was you.  

In other words, the 90s were totally awesome, and I'm so happy that I got to spend my teen years in that decade. 

As always, I'd love to hear from you. Are you a 90s girl, or did you grow up earlier or later? Want to make a case for your decade if you did? Did I miss anything? Let me know! 



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Waiting on Wednesday (42) Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.



Glory O'Brien's History of the Future

Author: A.S. King
Publisher: Little, Brown Books
Release Date: October 14, 2014

Synopsis from

WOULD YOU TRY TO CHANGE THE WORLD
IF YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD NO FUTURE?

Graduating from high school is a time of limitless possibilities—but not for Glory, who has no plan for what's next. Her mother committed suicide when Glory was only four years old, and she’s never stopped wondering if she will eventually go the same way...until a transformative night when she begins to experience an astonishing new power to see a person’s infinite past and future. From ancient ancestors to many generations forward, Glory is bombarded with visions—and what she sees ahead of her is terrifying.

A tyrannical new leader raises an army. Women’s rights disappear. A violent second civil war breaks out. And young girls vanish daily, sold off or interned in camps. Glory makes it her mission to record everything she sees, hoping her notes will somehow make a difference. She may not see a future for herself, but she’ll do everything in her power to make sure this one doesn’t come to pass.

In this masterpiece about freedom, feminism, and destiny, Printz Honor author A.S. King tells the epic story of a girl coping with devastating loss at long last—a girl who has no idea that the future needs her, and that the present needs her even more.

   
Why I'm Excited:

Masterpiece isn't a word one should toss around lightly, but this truly does sound amazing. When I first read this synopsis I was, like: holy crap, I want this right now! It doesn't sound like something I would normally pick up, but I am dying to get my hands on a copy of this one. The ability to see the infinite past and future. The scary future she sees. It sounds so original and awesome and, yeah, wants it. 

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up! 

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin as we all know Google Reader has gone/is going by the wayside. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

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Don't Even Think About It (Early Book Review)

Don't Even Think About It

Author: Sarah Mlynowski
Publisher: Random House
Number of Pages: 320
Release Date: March 11, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads:

We weren't always like this. We used to be average New York City high school sophomores. Until our homeroom went for flu shots. We were prepared for some side effects. Maybe a headache. Maybe a sore arm. We definitely didn't expect to get telepathic powers. But suddenly we could hear what everyone was thinking. Our friends. Our parents. Our crushes. Now we all know that Tess is in love with her best friend, Teddy. That Mackenzie cheated on Cooper. That, um, Nurse Carmichael used to be a stripper.

Since we've kept our freakish skill a secret, we can sit next to the class brainiac and ace our tests. We can dump our boyfriends right before they dump us. We know what our friends really think of our jeans, our breath, our new bangs. We always know what's coming. Some of us will thrive. Some of us will crack. None of us will ever be the same.

So stop obsessing about your ex. We're always listening.

*******************************************************************

MY THOUGHTS:

I've always been a huge fan of Sarah Mlynowski. Her Red Dress Inc (a now defunct chick-lit publishing company) books were some of my favorite fluffy reads in my 20s. If you like the chick-lit genre I definitely recommend you check out her backlist, especially Fishbowl, Monkey Business, and Me Vs. Me (just typing this is making me want to pick up some of her older stories--time for some rereading). She has now seemed to move away from the genre to concentrate solely on YA and MG books. Don't Even Think About It is her latest offering. 

Don't Even Think About It follows a group of New York City high school students who all share a homeroom. The school has organized flu shots into homerooms, and these students somehow get a batch that gives them mind-reading powers. Twenty-some students develop these powers, but, of course, the novel can only really focus on a handful of them. 

I'm going to address what will be the main complaint of this book up front. The story is told in first-person plural, meaning that the narrator(s) use the pronouns "us" and "we" to tell the story. I'll admit that this felt clunky for the first couple of chapters, but once the story got rolling, it didn't bother me in the least. Because these students are constantly--constantly--in each other's heads, it makes perfect sense that they would start thinking as a "we". I haven't read any reviews for this book, but I know that it is going to be a factor for some readers. 

Out of the students who develop the power, five really stand out as the "stars" of the story. The first two are Mackenzie and her boyfriend, Cooper. For weeks Mackenzie has been carrying around a secret: she cheated on Cooper with a boy in her building. She feels horribly guilty, but doesn't want to confess because she knows he will break up with her if he finds out. The other students, when they find out by listening in, can't help but feel like she would deserve getting the boot. Mackenzie's best friend, Tess, has also developed the gift. She can't wait to listen in on her best guy friend's thoughts to find out if he likes her as much as she likes him. I especially felt for Tess, who is obviously a bit overweight. Not only does she have to hear her own mother thinking to herself that her daughter shouldn't eat so much, but her best friend occasionally has really mean thoughts about how she looks, as well. Olivia is a shy girl who never voices her opinions and just goes along with the crowd. She is shocked to find out that a boy in her debate class has a crush on her and uses her new talent to her advantage while dating for the first time. Pi (named for her ability to recite pi to the whatever high number) asserts herself as the leader of the group. She doesn't want anybody to tell their parents or any authorities of their new powers. She is second in the class, but wants to be first to get into Harvard. She isn't about to let this power go to waste. 

Like any nerd worth her weight, I've long debated what super power I'd like to have if given the choice. Mind-reading is a hard one. If it's something that you could control, I think I'd want it, but, if like in this book, you were constantly bombarded by the thoughts of those around you, it would suck. The students could only turn it off by closing their eyes, and can only really hear those closest to them, but imagine having to hear all those mean little thoughts we all think sometimes. Imagine having to hear your parent's thoughts while they have sex (a particularly traumatizing event one of our students experiences)! Imagine having to hear somebody's OCD. It would all be too much.

Overall, I enjoyed Don't Even Think About It. I cared about the characters, although I certainly liked some more than others, and enjoyed the novelty of an otherwise fairly typical YA contemporary story. This isn't billed as a series, but I would definitely pick up a second book if it came out. If you enjoy fun, YA contemporary with a twist, I would recommend this one. If you can get past the first couple of clunky chapters, the first person plural definitely becomes more manageable. I thought it was pretty fun and will continue to pick up whatever Sarah Mlynowski puts out. 

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Weekly Rewind 2.22.14

The Weekly Rewind

The new books on my shelves, the links I loved, and my week in a nutshell.






The Weekly Rewind is my new weekend post. Since I started this blog I've participated in Stacking the Shelves, which is a weekly feature hosted by Tyngas Reviews, and I'm going to continue linking to that meme, but I don't want my weekend post to just be about the books I've received. I'm trying to make this blog more personal, so The Weekly Rewind will be about what's going on with me and my blog, as well as about the books I've added to my shelves, and the links I've enjoyed over the past week from other blogs. 

My Life and Blog: 

On the job front: I'm officially a substitute teacher for about 10 different school districts in my city. YAY! I picked up two jobs this week: 1. I subbed for an elementary school library which was pretty fun. I thought I would mostly be checking materials in and out (I work at a public library), but it wasn't like that. Every period I had a different class come in and so I had either story hour or had to help with research projects. It was pretty awesome. 2. On Friday I subbed for an middle school English teacher (I'm certified in English). It wasn't horrible, but I had 5 of the same English classes for 40 minute periods and what the teacher left the students to do only took about 20 minutes. Each class was really good for the 20 minutes it took them to do their work--well, for the most part--but as soon as they were done, they were supposed to sit quietly and read from their personal novel. Well it was Friday, a pretty nice day after weeks of horribly cold weather, and they had a substitute teacher, they didn't want to sit quietly and read. By the end of the day, I was just completely beat up. So tired and in need of a nap, a bath, and a bottle of wine.

Regardless, I'm so happy to finally be set up with the different districts. I'm still working part time at the office, but they are actively looking for my replacement, so I'm glad that as soon as they give me the boot I'll be able to just pick up sub jobs every day until June, at least, who knows what will happen then. My lovely husband had these waiting for me after my first day. The picture's pretty bad, but they are beautiful. My favorite flowers are daisies and they make up the bulk of the bouquet.

On the blog front: 

• Monday: I posted a review for Perfect Lies , the sequel to Mind Games. I enjoyed this novel as much as the first. I've heard this is a duology, but I would love to have one more story--which is kind of crazy because on
• Tuesday: I totally ranted about Yet Another Series and how I'm pretty over them in a discussion post. Judging from the comments, I'm not the only one.
• Wednesday: I'm waiting for For Real which is about sisters on an Amazing Race type show that looks so fun.
• Thursday: I took the day off blogging
• Friday: A review for the movie Ender's Game. A good, although forgettable popcorn film.

On the book front:

Ok, so I have a ton of books to share with you all. I got a handful of review books I'm really excited for plus my birthday haul finally came in. So without further adieu...I hope you are all having splendid weekends!

Review Books

 
 

The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Yep. I got it, and I'm pretty excited because I've heard nothing but good things. I'm hoping to get it started next week.
Don't Even Think About It by Sarah Mlynowksi
I love Sarah Mlynowski and have read pretty much everything she puts out for years. I've already read this story about a group of students who develop mind-reading powers after getting the flu shot and really enjoyed it. The writing style of first person plural (we/us) isn't going to be for everybody, but it didn't bother me after the first couple of chapters. A review should be up next week.

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier
I don't usually pick up books about illnesses, but this historical fiction story about the Spanish Influenza sounds pretty interesting.
16 Things I Thought Were True by Janet Gurtler
A girl goes on a roadtrip to find the dad she's never met after her mother has a heart attack.
Wicked Little Games by Kara Taylor
The second book in the Prep School Confidential series. I'm going to go ahead and just admit that I haven't read the first one yet. "But, Natalie," I'm sure you're thinking, "I thought the days of requesting sequels to books you haven't read yet were behind you." To be fair I thought this was coming out in May. Ok, I have no self control. Period. 
Freewill by Chris Lynch
A Printz honoree about a town plagued by a rash of teen suicides. 
Death Sworn by Leah Cypress
After losing her powers and place in society, a girl goes to be the tutor of a secret sect of assassins. It sounds awesome...but don't they always. It's getting pretty mixed reviews.
Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor
I think I forgot to put up the fact that I snagged the first book when it was up on NG a few weeks ago. So I had to snag the sequel, of course. I've heard wonderful things about this series.
The Disappeared by Kristina Ohlsson
I really enjoyed this Swedish author's debut The Unwanted which is a dark adult mystery. This is the third book in the series, but I'll probably skip #2. With mysteries that's usually alright. We'll see.

My Birthday Haul

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

I've long been meaning to read this book about a girl who is gamely planning to have a summer fling while mourning her dead secret boyfriend. 

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

I read this book when it first came out, but wanted to give it a second look after recently reading--and loving--the author's latest. It's about a girl who, after finding out her bf was cheating on her, organizes a single-and-proud girl's club. 

This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

I read this as an arc when it came out, and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to snag myself the paperback which is my preferred form.

Ten Things We Did (and Probably Shouldn't Have) by Sarah Mlynowski

I've already read this somewhat unbelievable book about two teen girls who trick their parents into letting them live on their own. It's cute, but silly, which is sometimes what you need. It was on clearance on Amazon and since I needed to get up to $35 for free shipping, into the cart it went.

Pivot Point by Kasie West

I've already read, and loved this one. I read it as an arc last year, too, but wanted to own the PB.

Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill

This is the other one of the pile that I haven't read yet. I've heard good things and enjoyed the author's sophomore effort which I read the arc of fairly recently. 

What I snagged from the library

Prep School Confidential by Kara Taylor

This combines two of my favorite things: prep schools and YA mysteries. I'm excited to read this (and, ahem, its sequel).

Twisted Sisters by Jen Lancaster

As much as I love Jen Lancaster's memoirs (Such a Pretty Fat, My Fair Lazy), I haven't been able to get into her fiction. This one is getting dismal reviews, but I'm going to give it a try. We'll see.

Posts/Links I Loved This Week

From Blogs:

• I Swim for Oceans showed us some Mid-Series Cover Redesigns.
• Jessie over at Ageless Pages Reviews shared her Awesome Wedding Proposal. Seriously, so sweet.
• What She Reads looked at Covers With Ribbons.

From around the interwebs:

• Incredible Things showed these really neat pictures of Disney Princesses and Their Villains' Shadows.
• Mental Floss had an article about 7 Book Dedications that Basically Say "Screw You"   which is pretty funny.
• This Buzzfeed post of 27 Questions You Should Never Ask the Internet cracked me up. Especially #4: What ever happened to Lindsey Lohan's English twin? You never hear about her anymore. Lol. 
• io9 asks: What makes a movie "so bad it's good" instead of just bad?
• Also on Mental Floss an article about What Causes that Old Book Smell.

I didn't get around to nearly as many blogs/websites as I would have liked this week. I love working in schools, but it definitely cuts down my web time. That and the Olympics.

Well that's it for me this week. Feel free to leave a link to whatever weekend post you do (Stacking the Shelves, In My Mailbox, etc). I love to see what books people have recently snagged and especially enjoy hearing about my fellow bloggers' weeks. I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

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Ender's Game (Friday Film Review)

Ender's Game

Director: Gavin Hood
Writers: Gavin Hood (screenplay) Orson Scott Card (author)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld
DVD Release Date: February 11, 2014
Rated: PG-13 for some violence, sci-fi action and thematic material.

Synopsis from IMDb:

The Earth was ravaged by the Formics, an alien race seemingly determined to destroy humanity. Seventy years later, the people of Earth remain banded together to prevent their own annihilation from this technologically superior alien species. Ender Wiggin, a quiet but brilliant boy, may become the savior of the human race. He is separated from his beloved sister and his terrifying brother and brought to battle school in orbit around earth. He will be tested and honed into an empathetic killer who begins to despise what he does as he learns to fight in hopes of saving Earth and his family.  

****************************************************************

MY THOUGHTS:

Confession time: I've read Ender's Game, but it has been, like, at least 15 years. I did debate rereading this before watching the movie as I do remember enjoying the book, but couldn't really remember it, but I just frankly couldn't find the time to do so. So while familiar with the story, this review is really going to be about the movie straight instead of a comparison between the book and movie. Although, I will reflect on that a bit as my husband recently read the book and had some serious gripes when the credit's rolled.

Ender's Game is a futuristic story in which Earth is preparing itself for what they believe is an imminent alien attack. Decades earlier, an alien race attacked Earth. Humans were victorious and have been planning their own offensive/defensive strategies ever since. The population is controlled and children are to go through military-type training until it is decided that they should or should not be a part of an elite team of fighters that are recruited and sent into space to the elite Battle School. These children will be the ones to fight the war.

Ender Wiggin is an extremely special child. A rare 3rd (his parents were given permission to have a third child as their previous son and daughter both showed almost perfect genetics), Ender's mind is gifted in military strategy. For example, very early in the movie he gets in a fight with a much larger boy and continues to beat him even after he is down in order to "win all future fights, as well". He is chosen to go to Battle School where he is singled out as special which both repels and attracts his fellow classmates. Which is exactly what Colonel Graff (Ford) wants. Like so many films of this ilk, Ender's Game is all about finding "the one" who can save all of mankind. Ender, of course, shows a brilliant strategic mind and finds ways to divert some of the positive attention on his classmates, too, which is a sure sign of a leader.

I found the movie to be pretty much exactly what I was expecting: a forgettable, but entertaining action film. The visual quality of the film is pretty stunning, especially the shots taken in the "Battle Room" where teams practice fight in zero gravity, as well as the shots of the distant alien planet. The acting was also well done. Asa Butterfield who played Ender was especially good in his role. He has very expressive eyes and I really empathized with this child who is so smart, but isolated and just wants to belong. It's hard not to feel bad for a child who is being trained to be a killer. He also has a sharp edge to him that lets us see that those in charge might have chosen correctly. Harrison Ford was fine as the gruff colonel, but he was just "playing" Harrison Ford. I would love to see him branch out into something like Regarding Henry again. Haliee Steinfeld was great as a girl who befriends Ender at Battle School. I really like this young actress and am excited for what the future holds for her. 

 

For those wanting to know how the movie stacks up to the film I can tell you that my husband was not at all pleased. He said the film really sacrificed a lot of the story in the film. His two biggest complaints was the lack of the "scoreboard" that keeps track of how students are doing at Battle School which plays a large part in the book, and the almost complete lack of back story regarding Ender and his beloved sister. To his credit, I do remember there being a lot more about his relationship with his siblings--both the positive one with his sister and the extremely negative one with his brother. We get a glimpse of it in the very beginning, but those relationships really aren't explored all that much even though Ender writes to his sister and she makes a couple of brief appearances.

Overall, I thought Ender's Game was an alright film. I didn't love it, but I did find it entertaining and visually pretty stunning. The younger actors made the film for me--way more than the veteran actors lead by Ford. If you are looking for a popcorn film to watch this weekend you could do worse. 

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Waiting on Wednesday (41) For Real

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. Click the link to see the original post plus a whole slew of links to other blogs. After you read this one, of course.



For Real

Author: Alison Cherry
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: December 1, 2014

Synopsis from Goodreads:

No parents. No limits. No clue what they're in for.

Shy, cautious Claire has always been in her confident older sister's shadow. While Miranda's life is jam-packed with exciting people and whirlwind adventures, Claire gets her thrills vicariously by watching people live large on reality TV.

When Miranda discovers her boyfriend, Samir, cheating on her just before her college graduation, it's Claire who comes up with the perfect plan. They'll outshine Miranda's fame-obsessed ex while having an amazing summer by competing on Around the World, a race around the globe for a million bucks. Revenge + sisterly bonding = awesome.

But the show has a twist, and Claire is stunned to find herself in the middle of a reality-show romance that may or may not be just for the cameras. This summer could end up being the highlight of her life... or an epic fail forever captured on film. In a world where drama is currency and manipulation is standard, how can you tell what's for real?

   
Why I'm Excited:

Doesn't this sound cute. I love books that focus on sisters. I don't personally watch The Amazing Race (is that what that reality show is called?), but it does make a great premise for a book. For Real sounds so fun. I'm definitely keeping my eyes open for this one.

What are you waiting for on this Wednesday? Link me up! 

Hey lovely GFC and new followers, please follow me by Bloglovin as we all know Google Reader has gone/is going by the wayside. (I like to follow back, so please let me know if you're a new follower--and leave a link!) Thank you!!!

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Discussion Post: Yet Another Series

Discussion Post: Yet Another Series


I've got to be honest, every time a book I want to read has those little parenthesis that say (whatever book #1) I die a little inside. Ok, maybe not quite that dramatic, but I do let out a inward groan. Why does everything take 3 books (if we're lucky) to tell nowadays? Why can't stories be told in a single volume any more? I'm pretty over series. For a few reasons:

1. I'm just not that into dystopian, paranormal, or fantasy these days. These are the genres that seem to really rely on multiple volumes to tell a tale, not always, of course, but that's the trend. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of series that I enjoy. A lot. Like Harry Potter, for example, which I've read 3 times through. Or the Hunger Games series which is simply amazing. I also really like the Burn for Burn, Mind Games, and Pivot Point series, but while all of those have paranormal aspects, they really read more like contemporary fiction, and I'm just a contemporary girl lately. I've really tried to get into the other genres, but the number of books in those genres that I really enjoy are few and far between. So while all my friends were fangirling all over Cress and Ignite Me coming out this month, I kind of felt like Debby Downer. (Although I do totally plan on reading Cinder...someday.)

 

2. My book memory sucks. Before the magic that are Goodread shelves came into my life, I was known to get half-way through a book before things started to seem awfully familiar. This book memory is a problem when it comes to series. I don't have to tell my fellow bloggers how stretched time can be when you have a pile of review books staring at you. As I discussed a couple of weeks ago in my discussion post on rereading, I'm all for picking up a beloved book again and again, but I HATE having to reread the first (or second or both) book in a series just to remember what is going on. I do know about Recaptions, and as a theory I think it's awesome, but I still feel the need to actually reread earlier books before picking up the next book in a series. It's just one of my bookish quirks. A total time-sucking bookish quirk. But when I don't I just feel lost and confused.

I picked up Allegiant when it first came out and about 2 pages in realized that there was no way I could read it without giving Insurgent another look. And that's just not going to happen anytime soon.

3. I'm super impatient. Yes, the anticipation for a book your dying to read can be kind of fun in that gimme, gimme, gimme kind of way, but I'd rather have the next book now because I'm impatient like that.

 

Sometimes I think it is just better to wait until all of the books of a series are out before I pick up the first one. Of course, the problem with that is trying to fit 3 books in my already overcrowded reading schedule. It's probably not going to happen. 

4. Which brings us to my next gripe: I just don't have time. I was debating picking up the first book in the Vampire Academy series before seeing the movie (which I haven't seen--has anybody? It's getting blasted by movie reviewers and is already down to, like, the 10:45AM only showing at most of the theaters in my city), but then I saw it has, like, 6 books in it not counting the spin-offs.

I feel the same way about the relatively new The Bone Season. It sounds really interesting, but it's huge and the first of seven! As much as I'd love to just sit around and read all day, I just can't.

5. I'm already in the middle of hundred series. I've seen a lot of bloggers post what series they have completed, what they need to complete, what they are caught up on, and what they are giving up on. I debated doing that, but I think if I actually saw it in writing I would have a break down. It's hard to get excited for a new series when I have so many incomplete series. 

So am I giving up on series? Of course not. There are series coming out this month I know I'm going to read (I'm looking at you The Winner's Curse), but I'm definitely becoming more hesitant to pick up the first book in a series and am often waiting until at least the second or third book comes out before I start them. I'm also becoming more hesitant to request books that I know are series starters...and I'm definitely trying to stop requesting the second (or third) book in a series I haven't started yet. Seriously, I used to do that to myself all the time. I don't know why. It's so silly!

As always, I'd love to hear from you. How do you feel about series? Are you like me--hesitant to start them--or can you not get enough? Have you ever counted to see how many series you are in the middle of reading? Let me know!

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