Denise’s Comments (group member since Jan 23, 2009)

Denise’s comments from the The Reading Rainbow Coalition group.

Has anyone finished this? I got through it last night and it was great. It made me want to watch Buffy (just starting on Season 5) and wish that this had been made into a series as well, or maybe a mini-series. It's basically Buffy, but in the future! I mean, really, what else can you ask for? I hope he revisits this again someday and keep writing Mel's story since he puts such an interesting spin on her origins.

What did you guys think?

Fray
by Joss Whedon

Hundreds of years in the future, Manhattan has become a deadly slum, run by mutant crime-lords and disinterested cops. Stuck in the middle is a young girl who thought she had no future, but learns she has a great destiny. In a world so poisoned that it doesn't notice the monsters on its streets, how can a street kid like Fray unite a fallen city against a demonic plot to consume mankind? Joss Whedon, the celebrated creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, brings his vision to the future in this unique tale. As inventive in the comics medium as in that of television of film, Whedon spins a complex tale of a skilled thief coming of age without the help of friends or family, guided only by a demonic Watcher.

@Max A bit too late, I'm afraid, as the poll is already up. Do chime in with that one again next time though, I'd love to read that one!

@Self-propelled Excellent links! I am familiar only with Strange Horizons and used to frequent it in my aspiring-writer hayday. Thanks for reminding me! Scifi.com used to have a great archive as well but that has gone the way of the dodo, long even before the SyFy shenanigans. We will most definitely have to keep those in mind for our lag times...

I am hopelessly, hopelessly behind on this book! It's been hard for me to get into it for some reason (I'm only in the first 10 pages I think) but I'm going to hunker down and keep trying!

Sweet, I will post up the poll today! Thanks for the recommendations!

@Kristi - I've actually read that Fables volume and I've enjoyed it. The fairy tale angle is a little bit of a stretch but it's an interesting gimmick.

Hey guys and gals!

I apologize for being hopelessly remiss in putting up this month’s book of the month poll. Way to start of a new year, right? Bleh. Anyway, let’s go ahead and pretend I’m not completely incompetent. Please put up your suggestions for this month’s book of the month!

I’m thinking maybe we can try for a couple of comic book/graphic novel suggestions. If anyone has any in particular they would want to check out, please feel free to suggest them here!

I have been on a food book binge so I haven't had the chance to start this one yet although I picked it up from B&N ages ago. Gonna start this week, I swear!

Darwin's Radio

From Amazon.com:

All the best thrillers contain the solution to a mystery, and the mystery in this intellectually sparkling scientific thriller is more crucial and stranger than most. Why are people turning against their neighbors and their newborn children? And what is causing an epidemic of still births? A disgraced paleontologist and a genetic engineer both come across evidence of cover-ups in which the government is clearly up to no good. But no one knows what's really going on, and the government is covering up because that is what, in thrillers as in life, governments do. And what has any of this to do with the discovery of a Neanderthal family whose mummified faces show signs of a strange peeling?

Suggestions needed please! Let's get some more kick ass books! :)

Finished this last night. What a great book, not like anything I've ever read before. This is one of those rare movie-book relationships in which I enjoyed both, not because they are so different but because they compliment each other so well. Reading the book actually enhanced my appreciation for the movie.

I basically agree with Self-propelled's review especially regarding all the relationships between the characters, all so well-crafted to give the overall mood of the story. Eli and Hakan; Eli and Oskar; Tommy, his mom and Stefan; Virginia and Lacke; all the other drunks at the Chinese restaurant; the school bullies. Lindqvist peoples his world with so many characters that all manage to be as isolated as the next. There is a strange sense of loneliness in this book, not just for Eli who has to live apart from everyone, but also in this frigid, working-class town.

I have to say that this is the first book that I've read in a long time that I had to put down because one of the scenes was just so damned scary. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but it's a scene that is not in the movie, with Tommy and Hakan in the basement. Tense and terrifying, it draws you back to those primal days of childhood when the very darkness is petrifying.

Also, as this is the Thanksgiving season, I just wanted to say that I am thankful for this kick-ass book club, because through it I have found a great number of books that I have seriously, thoroughly enjoyed. <3

Jacobmartin wrote: "I haven't seen the movie or read the book yet, I always have trouble keeping up with you guys! It's ultra-hard to read any book at the moment because I am doing NaNoWriMo, but I always feel horribl..."

Good luck on NaNoWriMo! You are a far braver soul that me. ;) The bookclub isn't supposed to feel like homework so don't worry about not being able to read when you're busy. Just read what you can and comment in the forum... I leave all the threads open so you can comment anytime!

Really enjoying this so far. It seems that the movie followed th book pretty closely. Also, Texas seems to be experiencing an indian summer but reading this book makes me think wintery, Scandinavian thoughts.

More vampires! This time, of the Swedish variety!

Let the Right One In

Here's my review on it <>

I'll happily admit that I'll count this book as a guilty-pleasure, the equivalent of a summer popcorn flick. A lot of fun, chock-full of flaws and ultimately will never be on anyone's classic literature list. But let me tell you: I could not put it down; I was even sneaking peeks at the book while at work.

This book draws from a lot of the non-romantic angles of the vampire mythos. No shimmering, tortured-soul, alabaster-skinned pretty boy vampires. I would say that this actually has more in common with zombie stories in that vampires are monstrous, infection-carrying beasts that are no longer sentient. They're also really gross... and they're pretty damn scary.

The book jumps around a lot into different people's viewpoints to show the scope of the story and ultimately to lay the groundwork to what looks to be an ambitious plotline. Because of this, the book has the disadvantage of not fully realizing its characters. What we do see, though, is compelling. I am a sucker for aging bad-asses (a by-product of watching too much Zatoichi, I suspect) and Setrakian delivers on that front (LOVED him). The "science" of the book doesn't make a whole lot of sense (trying to explain vampirism as a parasitic infection will do that) but you're too busy yelling at the characters to GOGOGORUNRUN, CHOPHISHEADOFF to think about it too much (or at least I was). The idea of a shadowy group behind it all, the lesser-vampires versus elder-vampires, the "Master" vampire -- it's all been done, of course, and there is not much new here, but the book goes at a hundred miles per hour and the flaws tend to fall away when you are on such a fun ride.

The book ends with a lot of unanswered questions and the foundation for the upcoming sequels. It will probably try to sort itself out some more over the course of the next book, and provide some more logic or plot development. Honestly though, just give me some more of Setrakian wielding a sword like some holy avenger, and you'll have one happy customer here.

Kikishua wrote: "I felt particularly sorry for the guy in the dog kennel, and the dad washing his dead daughters hair even though he suspected weirdness.


<>

I think the mini-story that maybe creeped me out the most was the one about the man who was abusive and ended up a vampire and hiding out in his attic only for his wife to find him. Those attic spaces where all that fuzzy insulation stuff... that place always creeps me out. I did feel sorry for those poor St Bernard dogs too...

Paavo wrote: "My only problem so far is that I hate waiting for sequels, and I am sure that I will want to read this entire trilogy."

Ugh I know what you mean. I don't think there's even a release date for the sequels yet.

Jacobmartin wrote: "I graduated last week and I have a lot of time on my hands, so all excuses are removed. :)"

Congrats on graduating!! That's awesome!

Here's the second installment of my interview with Diana Peterfreund. Obviously, SPOILERS involved. If you have any follow-up questions please post in the comments, Diana has agreed to stay in touch if anyone else has any questions. Enjoy!

• You dealt with the difficult subject of date rape. Can you explain why you thought this would be a crucial event to include in the story line?

That’s an interesting way to phrase that question! It’s actually something my editor and I discussed in detail—something we were very conscious of being a hot button issue for some readers, and something that, according to online book debates I read while writing, something a lot of readers felt was not handled well in fiction. To the point that they didn’t want to see it at all, ever again, under any circumstances.
As I came to know Phil’s character, I realized that none of the other proposed ideas would be true to the young woman I’d written (like getting “caught up in the heat of the moment” or thinking that she made the right decision and then later regretting it – think Buffy and Angel). She’s not in love with Seth, and even if she were, I believe it's inconsistent to her character to make a choice that she would certainly view as abandoning Astrid. Phil is so clearly drawn throughout the book as someone who loves Astrid most (and that is something that Astrid, with her crazy, selfish mother, desperately needs), I didn’t see it happening.
But neither did I want to write a clichéd storyline. Those of you who have read my secret society books know that modern women’s issues are a recurring theme in my work. I’ve explored the topic of rape on several occasions, most recently in Tap & Gown. It bothers me that some are reticent to call these types of experiences rape because it’s not the excruciatingly violent one more often depicted and thought of as rape. The whole idea of “date rape” vs. “rape rape” is an abhorrent one. Whenever I see an online discussion about whether Phil (or the character in Tap & Gown) was “really” raped, I know it was the right thing to put in the book. It was rape. The end. It’s normal and okay for Phil to be really confused about her feelings for Seth after it happens, but that doesn’t change matters. If that speaks to any teen reading the book, then I’m glad.

• There is quite a bit of discussion about virginity and burgeoning sexuality in this book, not to mention some pretty violent unicorn-slaying action. Did you think that this was a gamble considering this is a Young Adult novel?

All “young adult” is, is a marketing term, meaning books that are about and will be marketed to teens. There are many books previously published as “adult novels” which are now being repackaged because “young adult” as a section of the bookstore is doing so well now. There are “adult” books that would likely be published as a young adult novels if sold today (perhaps Prep or The Lovely Bones). Often, the same books are sold as adult in one territory and teen in another. My Secret Society Girl books are published as adult novels here, but YA in Brazil. Graceling is YA in the US and adult in the UK. The Curious Incident is YA in the UK but adult in the US. The list goes on and on.
I wrote Rampant with the intention of selling it to the young adult market. It’s a mistaken impression that YA is for 8 year olds. Young adult books are books primarily targeted to teenagers, not young children. They are about young ADULTS.
The target market for YA novels are sitting right this minute in their high school English classes reading the greatest works of literature the world is ever known. Shakespeare and Arthur Miller and Hemingway and Nabokov: stories about rape and murder and incest and wars and all kinds of atrocities. They spend hours every day being graded on their ability to analyze these challenging stories, so their literary criticism muscles are in top shape. When I speak to aspiring writers of YA, I’m always quick to explode the myth that YA fiction should be dumbed down or somehow less complex. Teens can spot being pandered to, preached to, or protected a mile away, and they don’t appreciate it.
I am writing the book in the way that’s most truthful to the subject matter. What kind of book about killer unicorns and hunters would include no unicorn attacks? And would I be properly conveying the intensity and the horror of these young women’s lives if you never saw them actually have to make the decision to kill a unicorn?
Regarding the content of my book, I don’t feel it’s even at the edge of what one sees in many of the most popular and well-read YA. It’s certainly more innocent than the books I was reading (both YA and adult) when I was in high school. Look at Go Ask Alice or Forever.
Violence? Try the fantastic, bestselling The Hunger Games, where it’s not animals, but children being killed in gruesome and violent ways (including a scene with mutant wasps). Sex? How about Tricks, by NYT bestseller Ellen Hopkins, about teen prostitutes. The National Book Award finalist Skin Hunger, by Kathleen Duey; Valiant, by NYT bestseller Holly Black; National Book Award finalist AND Printz Honor book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (also a great movie starring Twilight’s Kristen Stewart), the Gossip Girl series… I can think of dozens of critically acclaimed and bestselling YA novels that contain mature subject matter. Of course, the great thing about YA now is that there's a little bit of everything, and if you want something that's sweeter you can find it as well (like the books of Ally Carter or Meg Cabot).
Madeleine L’Engle once said: “You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children.”

• Are any of the characters based on people you know?

You’re right, I really need to make friends with some unicorn hunters. Safety first!

o Can you comment on the fact that Astrid’s mom Lillith is very unlikeable?

Yeah, and that Lord Voldemort’s kind of a meanie, too, don’t you think? :-)
Astrid’s mother is insane. Just because it turns out that there actually are such things as unicorns doesn’t change that. She’s unstable, mercurial, a terrible mother, a famewhore, a coward, and a woman who is willing to torture her own daughter to achieve her selfish goals. Astrid herself doesn’t like Lilith very much, and the woman put food in her mouth and a roof over her head for 16 years.

o Cory is also hard to like at first because she flings Bonegrinder off a balcony! Can you talk about her development throughout the book?

So here’s something not many people know: originally, the book was written from three points of view: Cory, Astrid, and Phil. But when it became apparent that the book was really Astrid’s story, I went back and rewrote it. It’s a much stronger novel for having done that, however, I was forced to lose some incredibly cool scenes, such as Cory first coming to the Cloisters. She’s an amazingly strong character with a fabulous story of her own: a fifteen year old girl who almost single handedly creates an army to avenge the death of her mother. Without Cory, there would be no Order of the Lioness. Her hatred for Bonegrinder runs deep, and I didn’t know she was going to throw her off the balcony until she did! The challenges she faces in coming to terms with Bonegrinder, in Rampant, and unicorns in general, in the larger arc of the books, is one of my favorite themes in the series. I have great plans for all three of them, though right now the entire story is told only from Astrid’s perspective.

o Who were your influences in creating a strong, young teenage heroine like Astrid? I’m sure she has been compared to Buffy…

Buffy, definitely. I’m a huge Buffy fan. If you look in the acknowledgments of Rampant, you can see some of the others. Aravis Tarkheena of Narnia, Eowyn of Rohan in Tolkien, Alanna Tebold from Tamora Pierce’s Song of the Lioness Quartet, Trinity from the Matrix, Ripley from Aliens… I was always searching for strong, smart females in my fiction. You can thank my parents for that. I was weaned on Star Wars, and named after Diana Rigg, who played a the smart and savvy spy Mrs. Emma Peel in the Avengers. If you were to ask Astrid who her heroes were, she’d probably say Princess Leia and Marie Curie. Astrid’s unicorn magic is probably the least of her abilities.
Strength, of course, comes in many flavors, but I specifically wanted to write a book about female warriors this time around. Though they aren’t just brawn, these girls. They have strength of mind, of character, of spirit.

• Are there sequels in the works?

Absolutely! I just turned in the manuscript for the second killer unicorn book, which will be published in the fall of 2010. There’s also not one, but two short stories set in the killer unicorn world in anthologies coming out in 2010.

Here's the first installment of my interview with Diana Peterfreund. Obviously, SPOILERS involved. If you have any follow-up questions please post in the comments, Diana has agreed to stay in touch if anyone else has any questions. Enjoy!


• Let’s get this one out of the way: Do unicorns poop rainbows?

I have no idea where that came from! It’s certainly not part of any mythology I know of. Probably derived from all those unicorn trapper keepers with winged unicorns traipsing along rainbow paths. I wonder if there’s some sort of Oxford English Dictionary of Online Memes that can trace that idea back to the first person who hypothesized that unicorns defecate refracted light. Whatever it is, it certainly caught on.

• Why did you choose to write about killer unicorns?

One of the reasons I wrote the book was to explore the other facets of the unicorn legends—ones that aren’t as familiar to modern audiences or western audiences. There are all these stories about them being very dangerous and potentially deadly and I wanted to bring that into the mainstream.
The kernel of the idea came when I thought I overheard someone on TV talking about unicorn hunters (they almost certainly were not) and the phrase stuck in my head and sat there, simmering. Who would hunt unicorns? Why would they hunt unicorns? Later, I had a dream about being chased by a very scary unicorn-like monster. I started doing research into various unicorn legends and I was shocked to discover that the legend I knew was just one tiny part. That there WERE killer unicorns, that there WERE unicorns who were nothing whatsoever like white horses with horns.

• What kind of research (and how long) involved?

I got the idea for the book in early 2005, sold it in 2007, and finished writing it in 2008. So… many years of research and development! If you read my bio on the back of my book, you can see some of the types of research I did while working on the story.

o The types of unicorns

The names of the five types of unicorns in my book are drawn from different unicorn legends from around the globe. I decided to reconcile some of these very different unicorn legends by saying they were different species of unicorns, the way a lion and a clouded leopard are different species of great cat.
I read a lot of books about unicorns, including medieval bestiaries, which were quite amazing, given as they tended to be written by people who had never seen most of the animals they were talking about—whether they were real animals or not. What seems more realistic to you if you’d never seen these creatures: something like an elephant, a massive creature with huge ears, huger tusks, and a NOSE that can pick you up and toss you around; or something like a unicorn, which looked kind of like a deer except with one horn?
Some of the names, such as “einhorn” are simply the word unicorn in another language (German, in this case). Kirin in some Asian languages is the modern word for “giraffe” – both unicorns and giraffes were thought to be this same Asian mythical creature – only it turns out there actually are giraffes.
You can read more about the various types of unicorns on my website, in the “unicorn research” section.

o Italy

I actually spent a summer in Italy when I was in high school, though my experience wasn’t nearly so dangerous! I was in a school program similar to Giovanni’s. I’ve been back to Rome twice since, once specifically as a research trip for the book. We visited all the locations I put in the book (like the Borghese Museum and the Etruscan Necropolis, which I spent a whole day scrambling all over), and stayed in the neighborhood where I located the Cloisters. The actual cloisters courtyard in the book borrows heavily from the old cloisters in the Cathedral of Rome, which is just up the street. As soon as I saw the alicorn shaped spiral columns, I knew it had to be mine. You can see a photo of it here, along with lots of other photos from my Italy research trip: http://bit.ly/1GXWKX

o Alexander the Great

I read books and articles on him, especially from the classical sources (Plutarch, etc.) and researched the Alexander Romances, which were a series of contemporary biographies of Alexander. Many of them were translated and embellished over the centuries, which is why rumors about, say, the exact nature of Alexander’s warhorse Bucephalus could be passed down as fact, complete with illustrations of a big white unicorn surrounded by piles of human bones. (You can actually see pictures of that illustrated manuscript on my website, in the unicorn research section.)

o Greek and medieval mythology

I’m kind of a mythology nut. I took over seven years of Latin in high school and college. I spent a summer studying archaeology. I was almost a Classics major. My name is Diana. It sorta soaked in. (In passing, it’s funny to be always typing my name in the book, especially since some of the magic in the novel is a gift from “Diana.” Very meta, yeah?)

o Hunting, archery

I’m so fortunate that my father-in-law introduced me to one of the premiere female bowhunters on the east coast, I studied with her, learning the ins and outs of bowhunting and archery. Though she and her husband use modern weaponry, she also has a large collection of old arrowheads and other ancient weaponry, and a lot of knowledge about those, as well. I read books on bow hunting and the history of archery as well.

Kikishua wrote: "Yup, saw this thread, had it in my "to read" pile from the library, slid it to the top and just finished it."

What did you think?