Sam's Magical Book Club

Alright, December is almost over and it's time to choose January's book.

Seeing as how I am the only one who has voted on January's choice, I just wanted to check in and give everyone a chance to vote on what you want to read. As it stands, it looks like I will be reserving City of Bones from the library in the next few weeks.

If you want to continue reading the Uglies series into January, go right ahead. You can skip the official January book if you want.

If you want more discussion about Uglies, feel free to comment on an older post or start a new discussion by commenting on this post and I will re-post it. I may have one or two things more to say about the series, anyway... ;)

I'll extend the poll for January's read until the end of this week in case anyone still wants to vote and then I'll announce January's book club choice next week.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know things will probably still be busy until after New Year, but then hopefully in January we will be able to find more time to read.

Have a Happy New Year!

Which writer reindeer are you?

This link is great fun! I think all magical bookclub members could also ask "which type of reader are you" with the same or similar definitions.

For me - as both reader and writer - I think I'm Dancer with a crush on Blitzen. :)

Meaning that I am most definitely in love with the beautiful and poetic qualities of anything. I love to "gush and revel" - no description could be more like me.

But then, I don't tie myself down to rhyme and I get a kick out of shocking thrills and things that are unusual or strange. Thus, I have the hots for Blitzen. Except I don't smoke pot. (See link if you are confused right now).

Nor do I smoke anything else, for that matter. I get my high from the likes of transcendalist, magical moments. Bringing us back to Dancer.

And round we go! What an amusingly pointless way to distract myself for a good ten minutes!

Ok, so I can't help it. I finished the Uglies series and now I'm ready to start talking new books.

I have some suggestions, but feel free to suggest your own ideas if there's a book you're just getting jitters to read.

For now, don't worry - I won't go read ahead. For now (the rest of December) I'm reading a lovely book called Creating Plot which is helping me in my own fiction writing endeavors, but I wouldn't expect any bookclubbers to want to read that with me.

So anyway, here are my suggestions for January:

City of Bones (Mortal Instruments #1) - a young adult fiction series
Eat, Pray, Love - a NY Times Bestseller
The Life of Pi - another NY Times Bestseller
Shiver - another YA fiction, book 1 of series

I have to warn you - I love young adult fiction because it reads fast and is generally entertaining... and I especially like fun and fantasy during January and February when I'm feeling a little confined... BUT I also read them very fast and if we choose one of those books for January I will be probably end up reading the entire series during the month.

I'm not saying anyone else has to commit to the whole series, I'm just saying, I most likely will.

These are just a few of the books that have been on my list for a while and I would love to finally check them off.

Let me know what you want to read for January, or if you want to read one of these books after January. We can schedule books for a few months out - no problem.

Ok, so for those of you who are still reading Uglies, here is a post for you.

In my previous post, "Tally's transformation," I talked about the books from the perspective of having finished the series. But for you who are still reading Uglies, I want to know what you think.



Obviously, there's the startling but not so far-off idea of everyone turning into "pretties." It manages to be a new idea because of its placement in a future, dystopian society. But it also already exists among us.

Don't tell me you haven't seen all the billboards, commercials, and ads for cosmetic surgery. It's still expensive and not necessarily standard for everyone, but... it's becoming more and more standard and it's startling to me.

Several years ago I was talking with a co-worker about having kids one day. Just casual talk. Until she asked me, "so aren't you planning on getting a tummy tuck after you have kids?"

I just stared at her, thinking, "ummm... what?"

She had asked me so matter-of-factly, like it was just an assumed thing that every woman who goes through the physical trauma of having a baby is entitled to a tummy tuck to get her body back. Initially, yes it sounds nice. But on principle, it's just a vain idea.

I do not object to post-baby surgery, by the way; let's just make that clear. I certainly don't judge anyone who decided they needed it for whatever reason. Maybe even urgent medical reasons.

But I am never going to say that some cosmetic surgeries should just be standard because our vanity demands it. If my tummy sags after having a baby, I'm going to exercise like a mad woman and eat as healthily as I can, and then maybe after all is said and done if my quality of life is just the pits because of a relentlessly sagging belly, then MAYBE I would consider it. (In case you missed it, there was a little bit of sarcasm in that sentence.)

Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts about the theme of cosmetic surgery. I really like the book for its adventure too.

I also think it was particularly intriguing of Westerfeld to tell the story through Tally, who starts out believing in the cosmetic surgery and desiring it even more than Shay, for example. I like how we get to see Tally's world through her imperfect eyes and her gradually morphing perspective on things.

So, tell me whatcha think.

Confession: I have finished the series. Rather addicting, I must say. So, trying not to give away anything too important, I'm going to try and give a few general thoughts about these books.

Sort of a spoiler but not really a secret either:
I have to say that I was surprised when Scott Westerfeld did not have Tally eventually change back to her original "ugly" face.

In this dystopian society, we read that the operation-reversing pills do not only give you your brain back, but that they also melt the "pretty" surgeries and eventually leave you with your natural body. However, by the end of the third book, Specials, Tally has cured herself of all of the operations she underwent... within her own mind. She never does take any pills to cure her of her surgeries.

I was surprised because - obviously - one of the major themes of these books is how important it is to appreciate your natural self, your own unique look, and your independent-thinking brain. The best way for Tally to triumph over the people who keep changing her looks and her brain would be to eventually return to her pre-surgery looks, right?

Well, actually, no. I think Westerfeld deliberately allows Tally to retain all of her physically-altering surgeries while still gaining back her own mind.

The bottom line is: each person IS a product of their circumstances. I think Westerfeld is trying to tell us that even though Tally overcame the operations by digging deep into her own brain, a large part of who she is in the end is shaped by all of the trials and experiences - and surgeries - that she went through.

Take another dystopian novel: The Hunger Games. Isn't Katniss forever changed by the Games?

Plus, in an ironic sort of way, Tally's involuntary surgeries do leave her with a look that is unique. Once the mind-altering surgeries are banned, Tally is now the only living person who looks just the way she does. She's an example, a reminder, and she's also straight up intimidating.

So, what do you think? About the way the surgeries affected Tally in the end? About the way she could never completely go back?

Or just comment about the book in general. Likes, hates? Want to see it made into a movie?

You may have noticed but this blog's title recentlychanged from "I write, therefore I am" to "I read, therefore I am." That is because this blog is no longer going to be just about my writing endeavors, but about reading - lots of reading.

This blog is now officially Sam's Magical Book Club!

Anyone can join - go ahead and become a follower on the side bar. You will even help decide on books that will be read by me and other blog/book club members.

This month the read is Scott Westerfeld's Uglies. It's short notice for some people, so if you can't finish by the end of December, continue reading it through January. You may also continue on with the series if you have extra time to fill.

I'll review Uglies on this blog sometime in January, with a few posts along the way to start discussions about the book. Since I am going on in the series, I may also bring Pretties, Specials, and Extras into the discussion. However I'll try not to spoil anything really important for those who want to read the whole series themselves.

I will still occasionally write about writing. That is, how this whole book reading thing ties in with my perspective as a writer. Click on the tab above labeled "About Sam and Reading" for more information.

Happy reading! I hope you like Uglies.

I knew when I started this "writing" blog that it would probably have to evolve over time. The main goal here is to build my writer's platform, but it's not going to do much good if I don't get some sort of interest or following. I've asked around, and many people have shown interest in an online book club.

I'll still blog about writing, my efforts, my ideas, and such. But it will kind of be under the umbrella of what I - and others - think about what a good book should be.

I want this blog to be... shall we say, interactive! I want readers to help choose books and I want to get comments. Much, much more comments.

What can I say, you know? I'm a writer and I like feedback. Getting zero comments on a blog makes me wonder if anyone even is reading.

And I usually tend to fall on the "no" end of the "Is anyone reading my words?" spectrum.

Alright, so... if anyone is reading this... are you interested in an online book club?

Just a preliminary question here. Vote on the sidebar or comment. Please.

Thanks!

I made a goal to write for at least 30 minutes each day during November. I missed about 5 days.

It was a bit harder than I expected during the holidays. Sometimes I ended up writing for an entire hour the next day to make up for missing the day before. I am amending the goal slightly for December, because things will only get busier.

The goal is still to write nearly every day, just to keep the juices flowing. However, I will take Sundays off, because I think even a writer's brain could use a break to help refresh it. Also, any blogging I do during the week will count towards about half of the writing requirement for the day.

On to the more interesting stuff... I did end up writing a few new scenes for my fiction novel. It takes me a surprisingly longish amount of time to write just one scene. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I take great care in choosing my words.

More and more I am realizing that I should not be concerned with pumping out a clean and shiny first draft to try to limit editing time down the road. Because even my shiniest new scenes may not even make their way into the first manuscript. At all.

The idea of the story is still evolving. I'm not sure if I should count on doing a series, or just one book. I dont' know how old my character should be at the first.

But at least if I'm writing I'm getting somewhere.