National Novel Writing Month

So I'm doing it.

I'm trying to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. And I'm already behind on my goal of 1,700 words a day. That's about two and a half pages single spaced, which sounds like no big deal, but really really is. Like, really really.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to try NaNoWriMo out. Because I'm having no problem with writers' block, as you can tell from this excellent

All Hallow's Read

Who doesn't love Halloween?

The best holiday ever is in exactly one week and staying true to my self-proclaimed persona as a lit-obsessed nerd, I want to talk about Neil Gaiman's project, All Hallow's Read. The idea is that everyone should exchange scary books on Halloween. I've already participated by mailing my friend in Boston a copy of I Know What You Did Last Summer because they had it on sale for $2 at Urban Outfitters (see my last post concerning my talent for buying books cheap).

Anyway, it's fun and easy and encourages both reading and scaring friends. I have been encouraging all to participate. Happy Halloween!

It’s been a Long Time since I’ve Bought Books Full Price

Lately I’ve been stumbling upon a lot of places that sell books at some sort of discount, whether secondhand or just on sale, and it’s gotten to the point that when I’ve had to buy a book for the price printed above the barcode, it feels outrageous. Half Price Books is great for armatures, but there are plenty of other places to find books at a reduced price. This Friday my friend Grace and I are planning an outing to some of the discount bookstores she’s noticed around the neighborhood, and in honor of the event I’ve decided to list some of my favorite places to buy books cheap(ish).

Library Book Sales: The library by my house hosts a book sale every Fall and Spring, with paperbacks for $1 and hardcovers for $2. They always have a huge collection including bestsellers, classics, and other random books I’ve coincidentally wanted to read for months. Last year I bought six books for $6, and felt like I’d gotten them for free. Plus, many of them still have the library’s barcode laminated to the cover, making it look like I stole them from the library when they sit on my bookshelf. I feel like a rebel.

Secondhand Stores: It depends on the store whether or not there will be a good selection, but every once in a while I luck out and find a book I’ve been wanting. Last year I found the next three books in a series my sister and I had been reading in hardcover for $6. Thrift store books seem to consist of mainly teen fiction for some reason, but everyone needs a guilty pleasure every now and then.

Garage Sales: I’m partly basing this one on the fact that my garage sale this summer had for sale the entire Twilight saga, most of the Clique series, and dozens of other books. Adult fiction was included too, I promise.

Target: This one is kind of lame, but I always end up shopping here for books because they have all of the current bestsellers, often at 20% off. Whenever I don’t have a specific book in mind but am not in the mood for the overwhelming amount of browsing a library or Barnes & Noble requires, I shop for books at Target.

Stealing Books from Friends: How I ended up with my copies of 1984 and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, just to name a few. I do this more often than I should probably admit.

Book Review: Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

A few weeks ago I found myself in my favorite childhood bookstore and, after about
twenty minutes of aimless wandering, decided I had to buy something to justify my presence. An eighteen-year-old hanging out in a children’s bookstore seemed too creepy, even if my intentions were simply nostalgia. But the reason why I actually decided to read Thirteen
Reasons Why by Jay Asher is because for the past few years, I have been trying to convince myself that “YA Literature” is not an oxymoron but a legitimate genre. This novel had been getting good reviews, the plot sounded compelling, and it seemed like a good candidate for this potential genre. As it turns out, this novel comes pretty close to fitting the description of literature.

In the novel, Clay receives a box of cassette tapes that his classmate, Hannah Baker, recorded immediately before her suicide. The tapes are directed at thirteen people and explain the role each of these people played in causing Hannah’s death. As one of the thirteen, Clay must listen to the tapes, then mail the package anonymously to the next member of the list. The novel is told over the course of one night and describes what Clay is listening to on the tapes simultaneously with his own thoughts, actions, and reactions to what he hears.

I loved this book because it handles a serious topic in a believable, and therefore more impactful, way. Most of the ways the students hurt Hannah are minor, but there are patterns to their behaviors. Parallels can be seen between the way one girl invites Hannah to a party just to feel outgoing and popular, how her first kiss is turned into a way for her first boyfriend to lie about how far they actually got, and how one boy spies on her from outside her bedroom window when her parents are out of town. With each event, Hannah is taken advantage of and made to feel insignificant and worthless. This parallel is never explicitly said, but it is evident nonetheless, making the buildup to her suicide even more believable and understandable. This alone stands out from many other young adult novels, where serious subjects are used for shock value but don’t present a believable message. Understanding Hannah’s situation is central, and the way each story is presented adds to the novel’s overall strength.

Simultaneous with these stories are Clay’s reactions which ingeniously do more than just explain how depressed and shocked he is by the information. Clay even goes as far as to disagree with Hannah or prove that parts of her story are false. Sometimes he comes across as even angry with Hannah, asking if she really got any relief from creating the tapes and insisting that he had always been there to listen if she had only asked for help. The two narratives also allow for the facts themselves to be presented in unconventional ways, showing what is really important to each character as they recall the major events in Hannah’s life. Clay remembers the night that he and Hannah kissed because of the violent car accident he witnessed later that night, while Hannah remembers it as the night she and Clay had really connected, but she finally realized what little power she had on stopping terrible things from happening to herself or others. Clay never comes to that realization because, after listening to every tape, he still feels that Hannah’s suicide could have been prevented. Understanding different perspectives, especially Hannah’s death, remain the focus.

As I considered this novel as an example of literature, certain elements of the writing style still fit the category of frustrating teen fiction. In many cases, the writing gives too much away, instead of allowing the emotions to be interpreted and inferred on their own. For example, when Clay runs into his friend Tony, he describes the look on his face as “the same look he gave me when I helped him with his car… Worry. Concern.” Everyone remembers the awkward car scene, so explicitly describing Tony’s expression is pointless, as if the emotions can’t be remembered or imagined on their own. The use of one- or two-word sentences, also common in bad teen fiction and also present in this novel, can come across as cheesy and insincere. But the way the story is handled overall keeps it impactful.

Finally, I was excited to discover from the back of the book that Hannah’s tapes can be listened to on Youtube. I used to be cynical of the ways technology is taking over the literary world, but this is one case where technology and the written world do work together.