Judge a Book by Its Cover - Peeps

When browsing various blogs, I came across one called Kaitlyn in Bookland that has a feature called Judge a Book by Its Cover, where she posts various versions of book covers and talks about what she likes and dislikes about the various covers, independent of the story. I thought this could be a fun idea, so I'm going to try it out for PicaReads. Comment with your thoughts!

The first book I'm going to compare covers for is Peeps, by Scott Westerfeld. I don't know exactly what the different covers are, so I'm going to make up my own names for clarity's sake.

1. "Flower Petals" - this is the one I have.

2. "Eye"

3. "People"

4. "Australian Cover" 

#1(Flower Petals) is pretty, but it doesn't really have the creepiness that the other covers have. Generally this would be a good thing for me, but the story warrants a certain amount of creepiness. Also, you'd think that the flower petals have something to do with the story, which they don't. Part of me kept waiting for the flowers to come into it, and they never did. Now, if there was a cat, that'd be a different story, but perhaps a bit too spoilery? (spoiler, highlight to view). However, I do like the spray-paint look of the author's name (although I'd prefer the title to be bigger) and the foreshadowing with the grate, although he doesn't technically go down any grates in the book.

#2 (Eye), however, is taking the creepiness a bit too far for me. If my book had that cover, I wouldn't want to open it. That said, for many readers that probably wouldn't be the case. Part of Eye that I do like is the contrast of the color block and the fairly simple text at the bottom with the picture at the top. 

#3 (People) is probably my favorite cover of the bunch. I usually don't like people on the covers of books because I like to imagine the characters based on how they're described in the text rather than how they look on the cover. However, this cover really captures the creepiness of the story without overdoing it, includes parts of the story without giving anything away, and is interesting to look at graphically. 

#4 (Australian Cover) takes a close second to "People". I really like the cityscape in the background and how the bluish white of the face is reflected in the title and and parts of the city. Actually, I think all the colors in this one work really well. This cover would be by far my favorite if the person didn't have so much makeup under their eyes. If that had been done in a way that wasn't so obviously makeup,  I would like it a lot more, but thats what draws my eye every time, and I don't really like it. So it pushes this cover into second place for me. 

My favorite cover: "People". What's your favorite?

P.S. Review of Peeps coming soon!

[EDIT: Looks like I was a bit lax researching for the different covers of peeps; I found three more.  I'll make sure to get all the covers next time.

5. German Cover - "Peeps" (not sure what the subtitle says)
[EDIT: I looked it up; as far as I can tell, it's a quote from the book: "so pretty I had to eat him"]

6. & 7. Canadian Covers (The title "Peeps" is also used in Canada)

Read my review of Peeps!

Squeaky Books - 2 Rants

Squeaky books is a wonderful book blog with tons of clear, well-written, and convincing book reviews as well as many giveaways and various events. Enna Isilee, the author, is incredibly funny and insightful. Anyway, yesterday she posted a rant against paranormal romance (not against the idea, but talking about the various parts of the genre that have been repetitive, disappointing, and just plain silly). I found that I totally agreed with her, and that I've been avoiding the genre for many of the same reasons. After reading this post, I moved on to her rant against romance-fueled books (where if you take out the romance, there isn't much of a story). This one made me literally laugh out loud.

I love reading rants. They're just so great. I'd highly recommend checking out both of these. And just looking through Squeaky Books - It's a great blog.

A Conversation Between Two of My Favorite Authors Ever

Who thought I'd be this lucky? I just found this, from way back in 2007. Shannon Hale posted a series of email conversations between herself and Megan Whalen turner. Both are favorite favorite authors of mine, and their conversation is hilarious, informative, and fun to read.

It's in 3 parts: the first is here and there are links at the end of each post going to the next one.

A Project

This is going to be a quick post, but I wanted to say that I started a creative writing blog with my friend The Politick. We're writing a story together, switching off every few paragraphs. Let me say now that I have absolutely no idea where the story is going to go (that's part of the fun). The new blog is called The Bookbird and the Word Girl. We just started writing the story yesterday, so you should scroll down to part 1 (by The Politick) before you read part 2 (by me). New posts will be coming every day, so keep checking back!

The Seven Facts Award

I've just won my first ever blogging award! It's called the seven facts award, and I received it from Allegra of Here's to Us. Thank you so much, Allegra! It's so great to know that someone who I've never met face-to-face actually reads and appreciates this blog.

Here's how the award works:
1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to his/her blog.
2. Write a post about the award, in which you share seven facts about yourself.
3. Share the award with fifteen worthy bloggers.

So, seven things. Hmm....
I'm not sure if this is obvious at all from my previous posts, but I'm a little... *ahem* paranoid... about posting stuff about myself on the internet. But here goes anyway:

1. I have five overstuffed bookcases in my room.
2. I avoid books that I think will make me sad or upset.
3. I don't think I'm very good at creative writing, although my friends tell me otherwise.
4. I love languages - I take Latin and ancient Greek, and hope someday to learn German, Italian, French, and ASL.
5. I love challenging myself (taking difficult classes, participating in challenges like PBM, etc.)
6. I've never been able to decide on a favorite color.
7. I love to sing.

And I don't even have fifteen people to pass this on to, because most of the blogs that I follow are writers' and illustrators' blogs, and I'm way too intimidated to make them share seven things about themselves. So I'm sticking to two. Two is a good number. (Yes, I know I'm pathetic at fullflling the requirements of this particular award, but I'll improve with time.)

1. Curious Sparkplug
2. The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl

Until tomorrow, or tonight if I need to procrastinate my studying a bit more,

On Buying Books

Today, Shannon Hale, author of The Books of Bayern, Princess Academy, Rapunzel's Revenge, and many other wonderful books, posted this post on why it's important to keep bookstores. Also today, Kristin Cashore, author of Graceling and Fire, posted this post on why we should support independent businesses. I decided I had to find an independent bookstore near my house (and quickly). So I found one that was just a few minutes away, bought The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and put another on hold to buy later this week. It was a very nice little bookstore that I'd actually walked right by many times before and not known it was a bookstore.

I also put a button on my sidebar (you have to scroll down a bit, but it's there) that is a pledge to read the printed word. I'm not going to get a kindle or a nook or anything, but I'm going to stick just with regular old printed books. I've actually been opposed to buying a kindle for a long time, even though everyone says I should get one. I buy so many books that I'm constantly running out of space to put them. I have 4 separate bookcases in my room because every time I fill one up, I put another in. But I've tried reading on other people's Kindles and it isn't the same as reading a physical book. You don't get the book-ness of it, the feeling of the pages and the cover and so many other things I can't really describe that make a book special. When I see I book that I love in a bookstore, I take it off the shelf even though I know I'm not going to buy it because it's like a friend. When I look through bookstore shelves, I see so many books that I've read and enjoyed that I see on my own shelves every day and it's like they're all saying hi to me. I know all their stories and beautiful descriptions and characters. I'm obviously in love with books; I wouldn't have a book blog otherwise. But getting back to the point, books are special and stories are special. That is why we must keep the printed word alive.

Curious Sparkplug: a curiously good blog

A friend of mine who calls herself The Politick has recently created a blog that is worth checking out. From beautifully written tangents to short stories, creative writing, and even a satirical speech about the homeless children of America, every word draws you in closer. And it makes me laugh out loud to read and reread (and reread and reread and reread) her posts.

To give you an example of her writing style, here is an excerpt from her post Aliens:

when you think of 'lifeskills', or rather, when i think of lifeskills...i think--- combing your hair, brushing your teeth... general grooming. and then most importantly... how to eat with knife, fork and spoon, so that you do not accidentally swallow the utensils.
but no. of course, as always happens in life, it is surprising. yes, that has been said. as well as: to oneself be true (or something like that)... you know what has also been said? find your other green sock so you don't go to school with mix-matched socks and look like you have no lifeskills. on the other hand...wear green socks to school and you will look like an alien. so...win win?
anywho--- today i had lifeskills for two hours. first things first blue lollipops were handed out..to ease the tension in the room? to get us sugar-high? no...to make our tongues and teeth blue so that we would all look like aliens.

Also, Curious Sparkplug has just achieved its 500th view, so congrats to The Politick for that as well.

And now go read the rest of that post at http://curioussparkplug.blogspot.com. Go read, enjoy, and spread the word about this great blog.

Mockingjay

by Suzanne Collins
Start Date: 23 August 2010
End Date: 24 August 2010
398 pages (Hardcover Edition)
Published 24 August 2010

I have to admit, I was apprehensive about posting a review about Mockingjay. I felt like I could not quite articulate my reaction, which would obviously make writing a review a bit difficult. Luckily, I found a fantastic review by Allegra of Here's to Us which I completely agreed with and which brought up extremely interesting points that I'd never thought about before.

Here is the link to her post, and I'd also recommend checking out the rest of her blog; it's got some great stuff. http://herestous.wordpress.com/2010/12/19/bread-and-circuses/


And now, inspired by Allegra's superb post, I'll write down a few of my thoughts about Mockingjay. First of all, let me say that I loved the Hunger Games. I'm a little hesitant to recommend it to my friends since the entire premise has to do with teenagers killing each other, but I personally enjoyed it immensely. That said, I thought that the second book could have been better, and I didn't really like how she had to go back (trying not to give away too many spoilers). The third book seemed... I really don't know how to phrase this so it'll make sense... heavier somehow than the other two. And it's not even that the other books don't have horrible things happening-- they do-- but this one felt so much more horrible, partly because it felt more real. Like, the Hunger Games is a great concept and makes an engaging plot, but Mockingjay is basically a war. And wars are real-- it's not just in some dystopian future world, but in our world, today. Because of this and so many other things (let me just say: silver parachutes!), Mockingjay was harder for me to read than The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. Other than that, I will direct you to Here's To Us.

P.S. I didn't know until I looked up the publication date for this post that I received the book a day earlier than the official publication date. Amazon is too efficient for its own good. *contented sigh*

I’d like to bring your attention to…

two blogs that I read every day and thought you might enjoy.

The first, Space Station Nathan, is the blog of Nathan Hale, illustrator of Rapunzel’s Revenge (a phenomenal graphic novel written by Shannon and Dean Hale) and several great picture books. What makes this blog special is his daily comics, which are very fun and always a highlight of my day. Right now he's finishing up a dragon-naming contest with guest judge and fantastic author Jessica Day George. (Click here to see my review of her book Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow.) I recommend this blog to everyone -- kids, teens, and adults. Link: http://spacestationnathan.blogspot.com

The second blog, The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl, is the blog of Heather Zundel, AKA the superhero WriterGirl. She posts almost every day with something fun, interesting, and usually about books. I like that every day is something different but she has certain guidelines that she posts about. For example, every other Monday she posts a post called Monday’s Muse, and every Friday she posts a Feature Fun Friday. One of her most fun events was the YA Fantasy Showdown. In this awesome showdown, she took characters from various YA novels and pitted them against each other in how she thought their battles might go. People voted on who they thought would win. This showdown introduced me to WriterGirl. Even though it's over (for now), it's worth checking out. The Secret Adventures of WriterGirl is a great blog that I highly recommend. Link: http://thesecretadventuresofwritergirl.blogspot.com