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Category Archives: Random Musings
Same Auld Lang Syne
As 2010 draws to close, I, like so many others, am taking stock of the year. The good, the bad, the ugly – it’s all there laid out in front of me like books on a shelf for me to view and ponder. Overall, this has been a pretty good year. I don’t know if it’s the best ever since I have more years in front of me. It certainly wasn’t the worst. There were moments of pure joy and moments of heartache. Moments of peace and moments of strife. To paraphrase Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything, which helps when I set ridiculously unrealistic goals or expect to be able to control everything including the uncontrollable. So as I sit next to a fire that is slowly dying reflecting on a year that is quickly dying, I can say it was a pretty good year.
Complexifier or Simplifier?
I recently reviewed Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, and in the beginning of my review I praised the novel as well as the author for being smart and trusting the reader – not talking down to her. I found Revolution refreshing for this reason. It was the first YA book I’ve read in a long time that not only trusted the reader to be a reader and follow the plotline and characters, but it was also the first book I’ve read in a long time that complexified the reading experience.
Posted in Random Musings
Tagged as: A Northern Light, Jennifer Donnelly, Prinz Award, Revolution, YA Lit, young adult lit, young adult literature
Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
I think about the number of times a day I pass judgment based on appearance. While it’s not something I’m proud of, it is something that advertisers and marketers hone in on to get their product out there to the consumer. Let’s just face it, if we live by the proverb Don’t judge a book by its cover, it would be free sailing in the supermarket. How many companies whose products sit on supermarket shelves spend countless hours and dollars changing packaging, paying for space on the shelves, and setting up the obstacle course known as the endcap? (One precariously placed endcap of paper towels was unceremoniously removed by my brother and me about 30 years ago in a horrible shopping cart mishap. I think, in fact, we’re still grounded for that one.)
Posted in Random Musings
Tagged as: Book Cover, Flipped, Movie Cover, Stargirl, YA Lit, YA Literature, young adult literature