Sam's Magical Book Club

Coined a new phrase today on facebook. I can honestly say I have not heard it before and it is totally MINE. Not to brag (ok so maybe a little), but it completely captures a very important aspect of my personality and maybe yours too:

Samster's official definition -

"book hugger:
a) one who loves reading books, holding books, buying books, and living within the story-world of books;
b) one who unabashedly gushes about their obsession for reading and books;
c) one who prefers books to most other kinds of media, especially when comparing an original novel to the movie that was produced based on it;
d) a person who cringes and cries at the mere thought of any person trashing, burning, or disappreciating books in any way.
"Synonyms include: bookworm, library rat, book clubber, book geek, aspiring writer, closet poet, page turnee, word nerd, scholar, student, book store bum, speed reader.
"antonyms: book hater, ignoramus, vegetable, dictator, Nazi.
"see also: GENIUS."

Are you a book hugger, too? If you think are, let me know why you would call yourself this.

Okay, I admit. I finished the Mortal Instruments series.

I'm serious! I turned into a reading zombie this past week and stayed up late reading and I could not wait to know what happened.

After City of Bones (book 1), I had to read the City of Ashes (book 2), and then I just had to finish City of Glass (book 3) because I could not concentrate on folding laundry, making dinner, or getting anything done as long those books were unfinished.

I'm comparing this series to the best, star roller-coaster attraction of the paranormal genre. It was... amazing.

Here's my goodreads review of the last book. I promise I don't give anything away.

My obsession with the rollercoaster ride continues! This series seriously restored my faith in paranormal literature.  

The plot progresses in that action-movie-like way that you can't put it down, the characters develop at just the right pace and somehow manage to get more interesting in the 3rd book, and of course the love story keeps you pulling at your hair from one page to the next (in a good way). There is just enough dangling frustration mixed with satisfying moments.  

I blazed through this in about a day and was instantly depressed that it was over. (There is a fourth one, but it takes a tangent into another character's story). I also immediately wanted to read them again - a good sign that this book has that X factor, like really great classic movies, that makes you want to live the story again because you know the journey will be tantalizing even when you know the end.

If anyone makes this into a movie, it better be Christopher Nolan or Peter Jackson. I don't think I could bear to see this story butchered.

Yes I believe this series is movie-adaptation friendly.

But mostly I hope you like the books as much as I did.

When I got to the end of the first book (as you could tell in my previous post) I was already hooked. I was. Cassandra Clare had me dangled - no, caught - in the grips of unanswered questions and the desires of the characters.

One of the unexpected perks of reading this series is that it started to give me serious ideas about my own book. Fantasy-adventure is in my soul, and I'd already decided that my story was going to be in that genre. But I'd lost some faith in recently published books and I needed a flare to get me excited again.

These books were it. The flare.

Your turn to let me know your review...or at least your observations up to whatever point you're at. Don't worry - you still have till the end of January to read 1 or all 3 of the Mortal Instruments books.

I will post about them again, too!

I stayed up late reading in bed this weekend and I finished City Of Bones. I couldn't help it!

Question for you, when you get to the end: What did you think about the twist?

It was definitely startling. I didn't see it coming; I am not ashamed to admit. It definitely "thickened" the plot up nicely and gave you a reason to pick up Book 2.

However, the twist was a little disturbing. Much of the book was spent in building up a certain "tension"...until the end, when it's sort of yanked out from under you.

As a writer, I have to appreciate that Clare has constructed a very clever plot with a cliffhanger that you cannot disregard. As a reader, I'm not so sure that I have accepted the ending twist yet, and I'm mostly reading on in the hopes that the twist will unravel again. If you've read it, you know what I mean.

So you might say that Clare is now in danger of losing my interest... unless she can somehow validate the tension of the first book. Really soon. I've already started book 2, and... I'm waiting.

Have you started reading City Of Bones?

Well, I have and I am loving it. I always love a magical and action packed plot. Who doesn't? But after reading a good share of cheesier and cheaper books in the same genre, I also have a very healthy appreciation for an original storyworld and fascinating characters.

It is seriously hurting my productivity. I am nearing the end of  Book 1 and I have no doubt I will have to read on.

Which leads me to my next point of business. If anyone else is becoming equally engrossed in City of Bones: The Mortal Instruments Book 1 then you have probably realized that it's not entirely reasonable to expect to finish the whole series in one month. They're meaty books. I don't think even I could finish four of them by the end of the month.

So, we may be making February an optional month for choosing to read either Life of Pi, or just to finish The Mortal Instruments series. Just as an FYI.

And just for the record, I think City Of Bones would be wildly successful as a movie. If you thought Twilight was successful... well... I'm just saying that City Of Bones would be one that I would not have to be embarrassed to go see. :)

Let me know what you think of the book if you've started it! I hope you like it as much as I am.

Just in case anyone else out there has recently finished the Uglies series and wants a few more thoughts about it, here ya go!

I thought a lot about the interaction between the main characters in the books. Specifically, between Tally and her best friend, Shay. It seemed a little... ironic... to me that their friendship lasted only a short period of time before the conflict of their world pulled them apart.

To recap, they became best friends during just a few short months before their scheduled "pretty surgeries," in the first book, Uglies. Near the end of Uglies, they had a falling out that lasted all through the second book, Pretties, and even resonated into the third book, Specials.

Of course you could argue that when Tally and Shay both became Specials in the third book that they were technically aligned on the same "team" once again. They acted civil towards each other, right? Yet to me it seemed like the tension between them never fully dissipated.


Did anyone else feel the same way? Or did you feel like Tally's and Shay's differences were happily resolved and you had no regrets?

Near the end of the third book, they both were able to gain their independent minds back after the many surgeries that had gone through and seemed to come to terms with each other. But it still seemed like they had to fight for it, and work at it continuously. Do you think Westerfeld did that on purpose and is that true to life?

I think Westerfeld is a good writer, a good storyteller, and did a really good job of characterizing Tally and Shay. He  wrote from Tally's  point of view convincingly, and he gave them believable, very human emotions and flaws. So to anwer my own question: yes, I think he did it on purpose.

There's some lessons about friendship and leadership mingled in there somewhere.

Also, as a writer myself, I think it was also one of the story questions, or conflicts, that kept me coming back as a reader. In other words, did you want to keep reading because you wanted to see them become friends again?

First, Westerfeld has to make you believe in their friendship - that they are real people who need friends and they care about each other. Then he has to get you emotionally invested in their friendship, so much so that you are sad to see them fall apart. Then Westerfeld has to keep you reading by making you believe that they can become friends again but that there is an interesting and difficult journey to get there.

It's good story writing. And I thought it was good reading too.

I got my "happy ending" but not in a bland, contrived way. In other words, maybe it's a good thing for humans to feel a little regret because it encourages us to do better next time. Westerfeld made me appreciate that some relationships could not be made perfect, or forced to revert back into what they were before, but that they were still worth working for.

Alright, thanks to everyone who gave feedback about January's read. From what I can tell, it looks like we had about 3 votes for City of Bones (including comments) and 2 votes for Life of Pi in the poll. Since I definitely want to read both books and I don't want to leave anybody out, let's go ahead and start reading City of Bones for January and schedule Life of Pi for February.

Sound good?

This means if you voted for Life of Pi and you want to get a head start, then by all means you can go ahead and start reading it now. I just won't start discussion on it until the end of February.

Hit the libraries, the bookstores, Amazon, or wherever else you go to get your books. Hopefullly we'll all have plenty of time to reserve the book we want and read it before the end of the month.

Just a reminder about City of Bones: It is the first book of a series - the Mortal Instruments - so if you want to read on in the series, try to squeeze it into January if you can since we will start with a new book in February. I may try to read the whole series as well.

Once again, feel free to let me know if you read Uglies, Pretties, or Specials and what you thought of the series. I have one more post coming up later this week about the series, and more specifically, about the character interaction.

Happy reading!