30 Day Challenge: Day 16

Day 16: Favorite Female Character

There aren’t too many female characters that I would have in my top favorites besides Lisbeth. She is the main character in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. I find her to be a very complex character. On one hand, she is a woman who dresses Goth and looks very scary, and has had a rough upbringing. You also find out she is incredibly smart and very gifted as a computer hacker. Stieg Larsson, the author of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, was 15 years old when he witnessed an acquaintance of his get raped by three men. He didn’t do anything to stop the act, and when he asked the women for forgiveness she refused. Her name was Lisbeth. This part of his life gave birth to the character of Lisbeth Salander who, in the book, is also a rape survivor. It is a very powerfully themed book about violence against women. The story, however, is great. Lisbeth teams up with an investigative journalist to try and catch a serial killer, who preys on women. The book is great and she is definitely one of my favorite female characters.

-John


“Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today; and I'll always remember it.”

30 Day Challenge: Day 15

Day 15: Favorite Male Character

"One of the bravest men I knew."

Are you kidding me? How in the world are you possibly supposed to pick one favorite character out of the myriad of phenomenal choices? If there are too many books to choose from, how on EARTH are we supposed to narrow that even further to a singular male character? 

Ugh. Life is hard. 

But, I am going to go with my gut, with my very first instinct when I read the prompt. It might just be best to not over-think it. 

30 Day Challenge: Day 14

Day 14: Favorite Book of Your Favorite Author

"This is the only story of mine whose moral I know. I don't think it's a marvelous moral, I just happen to know what it is…" ---Vonnegut

I talked about this prompt on Friday a little. (oops!) Mother Night is easily my favorite book by Kurt Vonnegut. I hold such a special place for this book because it opened me up to a whole new reading experience. This book also introduced me to metafiction -- another style often found in Vonnegut's books that I love. Metafiction is a style that poses questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. This is most notably done in Vonnegut's work through his satirical social commentary. I had read metafiction before, but Vonnegut's style made it stand out, and I wanted more!

I thoroughly enjoyed the narrator's voice in Mother Night, and how he writes his memoirs, as crazy as they often get in the book, while awaiting trial. Maybe it's the moral of the story though that really gets to me, and not just the good writing. "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be."…but that's not the only moral in this delightful read. Perhaps an even better one is "Make love when you can. It's good for you."

-Desiree

“The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open.”  -Palahniuk

I, too, made the mistake of talking about my favorite Palahniuk work on Friday! Sorry, dear readers, sometimes (read: often) my foresight is overpowered my desire to chat on and on and on about my favorite things. And if that favorite thing is a great book? Well, good luck getting me to stop. Luckily, I didn't drone on too much about Invisible Monsters. Today: I will.

Out of the hundreds of books I have read, only ten titles fit on to my top-ten books of all-time shelf. Invisible Monsters is one of those books. Palahniuk has the rare talent of consistently hitting you with over the head with a message and somehow avoiding the beating-a-dead-horse syndrome. To me, Invisible Monsters is all about one central theme: vulnerability. Personally, I find vulnerability utterly fascinating, primarily how it relates to the way we form relationships with others. Invisible Monsters, though incredibly satirical, is a meditation on humanity, on what it means to be beautiful. 

In meeting new people, I find three qualities to be the most important: Kindness, Humor, and Sincerity. Underlying each of these? Vulnerability. Invisible Monsters examines this concept in a way that is both comical and staggeringly honest. 

Before getting the text 'tell me a story' tattooed on my arm, I debated this quote instead: "Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everyone I've ever known.” 

I think that's quite the testament to what an impact this book has had.  

30 Day Challenge: Day 13

Day 13: Your Favorite Writer

Our tagline is extremely true at Scarletta: "Publishers by trade. Readers at heart," which is why we put so much emphasis into our own authors. Someday, we want our own authors to receive the passionate recommendations for their writing as what we are doing in today's #30DayChallenge.


Easy-peasy today: Kurt Vonnegut!

I first read Vonnegut in 2009 in my Contemporary American Literature course. Mother Night became the most interesting book of my entire junior year as an English Literature major, so much so that I didn’t even want to stop and turn the light on in the living room as I read it for the first time. Eventually I had to since I couldn’t see anything after awhile. I immediately went out and bought more of his books when I finished it, and while I hold Mother Night dear to my heart, I’m now also a huge fan of Galapagos and Player Piano.

Vonnegut’s satirical social commentary, his notion for time-travel, for putting the reader into a different time in history or the future, for using his own experiences – it’s unbeatable. I mentioned before that I’m not a fan of science fiction, but Vonnegut’s blend of science fiction with gallows humor and the stark realities of authoritarianism, make the science fiction part just a sliver of what makes his writing phenomenal.

I will never stop recommending Vonnegut. I could re-read all of his books and it would never be too much, and so I hope you lovely readers of today’s challenge make sure to pick up at least one book by Vonnegut in the near future and see what he was about. His writing is more than worth it, or so it goes.

-Desiree

This one’s a no brainer, for me.

Two years ago, my partner at the time introduced me to a little book titled Invisible Monsters. The story follows a former supermodel on her cross-country trip with rising star Brandy Alexander and the violent, powerful, and drug-filled antics of their journey. As one of my ten favorite books of all-time, Invisible Monsters was my gateway drug to the split-second, graphic, minimal stylings of Chuck Palahniuk.

Now. I know I mentioned a few days ago that I respond best to gothic, romantic prose. This guy is an exception to this rule. His writing is bereft, satirical, scathing, and snippy—a complete turn from the type of writing I most enjoy. And, truthfully, that’s probably why I respond to Palahniuk so well! He takes scenarios and distorts them into unimaginably gruesome moments of taut chaos, and then shatters the chaos with frightening clarity. I read almost 10 of his titles within the span of two months and have enjoyed EVERY piece I’ve read.

Yeah…I like him.

-Josh

One of my favorite writers is Frank Miller. I think that almost all of the work he’s done in writing is incredible. All of his work is very unique, and he really set the bar for great writing in comic books. He made characters that seemed dull and a little out of date bigger then ever.

His work on Batman is probably his most well known. The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One are considered by most to be the best Batman comic books of all time.

-John

30 Day Challenge: Day 12

Day 12: A Book You Used to Love but Don't Anymore

This is a weird one. A book that I once loved, but now dislike? Seems like a strange premise. Does that mean I would have had to reread it recently and now just don’t care as much? Does it mean I retroactively think it’s worse than my initial impression? I’m so baffled, #30DayChallenge!

I guess I’ll pick a book that I thought was great, and then learned to dislike.

I LOVED Holes by Louis Sachar the first time I read it. I was enthralled. I already love Louis Sachar and his kooky, zany work, but Holes was such a nice departure. It had its quirks, sure, but it was just a great story about the wrong place, the wrong kid, the wrong time. But then everyone started reading it. And then the movie was made. And then the book resurged and all you hear all over again was how fantastic Holes was.

Okay, yeah, it’s good. But the charm of it quickly wears thin when it’s all you hear about. Perhaps I am a little jaded because 4th grade Josh thought he was so cool for jumping on that bandwagon first. Whatever the case, it’s not that appealing to me anymore. Did I grow out of it? Did it just fall by the wayside? Is it that good in the first place? Whatever the reason, it’s no longer as prioritized on my list.

-Josh

I’m just as confused as Josh is by today's #30DayChallenge. It’s hard to find a book that I loved at one point and don’t anymore. There’s a reason I loved the book and even through my own personal development over the years, I’m certain I still hold some sort of affection for it.

I haven't read Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder since I was a child. My mother had a collection of all these kind of books and I would read them when I was without a book. I can hardly remember the story, except that it's about a family from Wisconsin who moves to the prairie. I wouldn't mind reading it again, if I was ever without another book to read that is. There is nothing particularly wrong with the story as I recall, except I have a feeling that I wouldn't enjoy the pace of it. It wasn't a book that kept me up reading late into the night like most of the books I read growing up, and so I don't see it making me feel that way now.

I still hold an affection for the book that now sits on my bookcase, and it's something I hope my children will read when the time comes. But for me, I'll stick with the books and genres I've found to my liking.

-Desiree

A book that I used to love was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. In middle school we had to read it for class, and I thought it was one of the best books I had ever read. It's not that I don’t like it anymore, I just haven’t read it in a while. The story of kids being stranded on an island trying to work together to survive, but of course, inevitably there are those that want to be in charge. Things escalate to the point of killing each other! When I read it I just remember thinking it was insane, but so well-written that it captured me. I need to read it again because it is a classic, and I really enjoyed reading it when I was in school. Who knows, it might just become my favorite.

-John

30 Day Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: A Book You Hated

I have a lot of respect for authors. To pick a book that I hated? That seems a little pointed, a little extreme, a little violent. So, maybe, rather than refer to it as a book I hated, I’ll just say it was the furthest thing from my personal taste that I can possibly imagine.

Typically, I respond to beautiful, romantic, gothic prose. The type of writing that builds a nest in your body, slowly unwinding and crawling through you until you’re completely wrapped in the moment. That is what I love to read. The antithesis would be minimalist, boring, rugged writing that just observes without interacting. That is why Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea is a book that I—gulp—hate. I thought it was boring, stale, empty. I just didn’t care one little bit about the man, the marlin, or the boy. I can appreciate the book, but I’ll appreciate it from far, far away.

     -Josh

It' hard to say the word "hate" when it comes to a book. If I didn't think I would like it or it didn't come highly recommended, I probably would never have picked it up. It's safe to say though that there are at least a few books out there that I couldn't even force myself to finish.

The most distinctive one that comes to mind is Vineland by Thomas Pynchon. I really wanted to like Pynchon's writing style as a professor of mine described him as eclectic, electrifying, complex. I thought I was going to read some stark and satirical social commentary, but instead I was utterly dismayed. I couldn't even make it halfway through the book I was so put off by the twisted and inane plot line that was meant to be the satirical social commentary on America's politics. Maybe eventually I'll attempt to re-read with a better mindset, but for now, I'll leave that book to collect some dust.

     -Desiree

One book that I picked up at an airport was Churchill’s Secret Agent by Max and Linda Ciampoli. It was around the time all the Jason Bourne movies were popular, and I assumed it was going to be something like that, so I had a lot of high hopes. No matter how far I’d get in the book I was always waiting for something cool to happen, and it was always the same. Nothing exciting or shocking happened. There may have been one part in the book when thought, “Okay, that was almost worth all this reading I’ve been doing…” Halfway through the book, I just couldn’t take it anymore. If you are ever considering reading that book, my advice, just don’t.

    -John

I'll never forget the first time I didn't enjoy reading. I was in fifth grade and was assigned The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane and I hated it. Up until then, reading had been my favorite pastime and it had never occurred to me that there might be books I wouldn't want to read. So it was a rude awakening, to say the least. In hindsight, the main problem may have been that I was just too young for it. My teacher that year (who was one of my favorite teachers ever) had us reading a number of books that were perhaps a little advanced for our grade, including The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Call of the Wild. The only one I had a problem with was The Red Badge of Courage. Since then I have thought of picking it up to see if I would like it as an adult, but I just can't bring myself to do it. 

-Liz

30 Day Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: Favorite Classic

Such an easy prompt today. I've always loved classics, and love to find them in bookstores with worn hardcovers if possible. There's something about the feel of a worn classic that brings you back to the golden age of writing and reading. While I've read many books of classic prose and poetry, tales, and novels, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë is by far my favorite. It's the original coming of age story, a bildungsroman if you will. 

My favorite part of reading is the characters and their development. I like to feel as if I'm growing with the character, as if I'm learning what they are learning, and Jane Eyre was ahead of its time in this sense. The unfolding of Jane's life, morality, and sensibility envelopes the reader. It explores sexuality, religion, feminism, and criticizes the social norms in such a way that it revolutionized fiction. It certainly revolutionized fiction for me. It opened me up to a world of literature by Austin, Elliot, Stoker, Wilde, Chaucer, Boccaccio, Petrarch, and so many more that my bookshelves are filled with them.

But what makes a classic a "classic?" What's your favorite classic?

-Desiree

Growing up one of my favorite books to read, and that still to this day holds a spot in my heart is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I know it’s a pretty popular pick, especially since the movie just came out (which I thought was so so…) and so it’s fresh in everyone’s mind. For me when I think of The Great Gatsby I think of a great American novel that has stood the test of time, and proven to be held as one of the greatest works in American Literature.

I always loved the story, and really connected with the characters of the book. Even though it is a short book, it is still very good. It is something I recommend everyone to read, again if it has been a while.

 -John

“People generally see what they look for, and hear what they listen for.” 

Would you look at that? We're in the double digits!

Like Desiree, I find this prompt to be a no brainer. I, too, have a had a love for classics since middle/high school. There's something very powerful associated with the notion of reading a classic novel or work of drama. Thinking of how many lives the same book has influenced fosters an intense feeling of community within me. It's exciting and, perhaps, a little overwhelming to reflect on how many people find deep connections with the same words I find so captivating.

To Kill a Mockingbird is the only classic that is always on my ever-changing list of 10 favorite books. Harper Lee's fantastic work is not only exquisitely written, but the story is crushingly timeless and (tragically) relevant. My dog, my (future) son, and favorite stuffed fox are all named after characters from this book. I think that's a rather good sign that this classic has had quite a large hold on my literary life.
                           -Josh