Soapboxing: Gambling in books

*This post is sponsored by Steve Marks*
*Mature content links are in this post*

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

--------------------

It's been a long time since we last hosted a Soapboxing post and with my like of reading time lately I thought it would be a good time to dust it off. I've been thinking about all those books I read, with mentions of gambling, casinos, and what not and I realized they are much more present then I thought.

Just to mention a few, in Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series The People (Vampire pilots in a Dystopian universe) host all of their business from The Casino. There are even a few scenes there even though it's not the main theater. There is also an awesome series of novellas called the Sin City Collectors, written by Amanda Carlson and Kristen Painter. The whole series takes place in a paranormal version of The Strip and it's actually quite awesome! A twitter follower also mentioned there is a moment in The Hollows by Kim Harrison when they also go to a casino. I honestly don't mind since they are series with an adult audience.

I mean, we are adults, not as impressible and we are (at least suppose too lol) responsible of our own actions.

This leads me to Silver Shadows by Richelle Mead. This title is meant for young adult audience and the last couple of chapters at the end are happening at the Strip in Vegas. The main couple are being chased from Casino to Casino, running away from their enemies. A very action packed moment! Of course, the focus isn't gambling, but I am wondering if any parents would forbid their teens to read such books for that reason? You know, banned books and all. I am a big fan of Richelle, and I don't condemn her of course, but I am wondering if others are? I am sure there are more YA titles with games but it's the only one coming to mind right now.

With online gambling being so accessible, such as many Royal Vegas games to play, or even lottery at the convenience store is this something you thought about? Does it bother you? Or on the contrary, do you feel it might be an educational tool to some extend? Do you have any other titles with reference to casinos or gambling that comes to mind?

Thank you all so much for taking part in the discussion, and I hope you'll be able to host more Soapboxing posts in the near future!

EDIT:

Suggestion from Melanie: The Cassie Palmer series by Karen Chance
Suggestion from Robert: Percy Jackson: Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 14:20

 Soapboxing  6 People left their mark

Soapboxing: Inspiration or Theft

 



It is foretold there will be the One to change the world, to right the wrongs and bring harmony to all. Tell me this: of what character do I speak, Harry, Perry or Art? I’ll save the answer for the end.

I just wanted to use the ‘chosen one’ question to introduce the thought of the use, reuse and abuse of tropes. All too often I hear critics and consumer complain about a lack of originality.  This often comes up when my son and I discuss movies, books or TV shows.  I usually wind up saying “there’s nothing new under the sun”.

I’ve come to the realization there’s a lot of truth in that old quote. Everything from the matter we’re made of to the stories we tell are all just variations on themes as old as human-kind.  Since before the time of cave drawings, stories told to entertain or to preserve knowledge had to travel well.   To do so, they often had common storylines.  They might get changed to suit the location, tribe or situation but, they were essentially the same.  Preserving the stories in more resilient media hasn’t changed that a bit.

I started really thinking about this when I heard people comparing the Harry Potter books to the Wizard of Earthsea books. I did my own amateur comparison with the first book of each series.  I won’t say they are completely different.  Both have young male wizards and both have older wizards teaching wizards at a wizard schools.  Beyond that, the comparisons start to strain.  I believe that’s what you should expect with a good trope.  Somebody writes about lovers separated by family or cultural differences and a few millennia later you have Westside Story and eventually Twilight

To me, it’s not the source of the inspiration or who the first to use a story line was. The real test is, how well did you tell the story and how did you make it interesting.  To paraphrase Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s Fountainhead, if you’re going to do a copy of Romeo and Juliet at least do a good copy of Romeo and Juliet.

So, now I’ll answer the question: who was the chosen one: Harry (Harry Potter), Perry (Pericles) or Art (King Arthur Pendragon)? The answer is all of the above. Who was first?  That is both obvious and irrelevant.  They’re all good stories and that is what does matter.

 

Where do you draw the line between inspiration and plagiarism?  I'd love to hear from you so, please leave your thoughts and opinions on this so in the comments! 

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 01:00

 Soapboxing  2 People left their mark

Soapboxing: What's in a name?

It's that time of the month again and this question was inspired by one of Stéphanie's reviews from last month, when she talked about one of J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood books. It's a series that I used to read but I eventually abandoned, not because of the storylines or the worldbuilding but because I couldn't deal with the way she names her characters. Specifically, my main issue is the way that she spells all of their names and, to be fair, it's an issue that I had from the outset of the series. I was cool with a name like Wrath -- it's no stranger than Barrons or any host of other characters -- but things really started to go downhill when I realised his merry band of brothers had ridiculously spelled names. I have no objections to giving characters unusual names but, as someone dislikes it when people substitute "z" for "s" for stylistic purposes, it's probably no surprise that names like Rhage, Vishous, and Zsadist aren't my favourite. But I was willing to go along with it since I thought the characters and stories were so interesting. But then we started getting into names like Xcor or s'Ex and I'm done. I appreciate that the names are treated as completely normal internal to the series but I hit a point where I found them so distracting that I couldn't keep reading the series. (Sorry, BDB fans, I had to come clean on this.) 

Unnecessarily strange spelling isn't the only thing that challenges my ability to continue with a series. You may remember that one of my quibbles with PEACEMAKER was that the protagonist's name was Virgin. I found it unnecessarily distracting. Again, I have no issue with unusual names: one of my favourite series is Sierra Dean's Secret McQueen books and it's a kind of ridiculous name, which Secret/Dean uses to great comic effect at certain points in the series. "Secret Rain", anyone? And maybe that's why I love it so much. Dean acknowledges that Secret's name is a bit wacky and a potential point of teasing. This is one of those cases where a somewhat ridiculous name is just part of the story. It's the same with Buffy, one of my favourite shows. And yes, Buffy isn't a tough name but it's also a little tongue-in-cheek and the writers make a point of sending it up every once in a while, including in the pilot. (Remember the Aphrodisia moment?)

I'm sure there are lots of other examples about naming gone awry (or at least off the beaten path) but I'm going to throw it out to you guys now.

 What's your take on unusual names?
Share your best and worst names in the comments.

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 04:00

 Soapboxing  4 People left their mark

Soapboxing: That pesky blog/work/life balance

[UPDATE: Hi guys! The post that originally went up on the 15th wasn't complete. Here's the final version. Sorry about that! ~Jenn]

As some of you may know, I moved to the UK in February for a job, having *finally* finished my degree. (I'm going back to Canada next week for my convocation to celebrate this milestone, which has me over the moon.) I thought I'd have more time to devote to my blogging pursuits, both here and over on I Read Good, but I'm still struggling with it even though I am supposed to have more downtime than before. Reading's not a problem -- I routinely devour a couple books a week -- but I do find it challenging to sit down and write my reviews and schedule guest posts and try to come up with creative content. This is something that's always in the back of my mind but it's been taking up my brain power than usual since we're resurrecting "When I'm not writing" next week. It's a feature that I love organising but I do wonder:

How many hours should I be spending on blogging in a week?

Am I burning out?

How am I going to keep things fresh for myself, let alone the readers? 

I know that many of the Team Tynga's readers are bloggers themselves so maybe this post is more of a cry for inspiration. I love books and being a part of the book blogging community but there are days when it's a struggle to sit down and blog. And it makes me so grateful to be co-blogging here on Team Tynga's Reviews since I get to share the responsibilities on this blog with my lovely friends. For me, co-blogging has been really fun and it's one of the things I love most about blogging: I've gotten to know these wonderful people and talk about books even more! It's definitely helped keep my interesting in blogging alive and well. I occasionally think about giving up my own blog but I like having a site that I have complete control over too much to stop writing on it, even though I post less than I would like.

So my question for you is:

How do you guys find time for everything?
Share your tips in the comments, please!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 03:00

 Soapboxing  12 People left their mark

Soapboxing: Which books would you take when you move?

I haven't written a Soapboxing post in a while because my life has been a bit hectic since December, in the best possible ways. I went to Australia for Christmas to see my brother, got back to Canada mid-January to defend my PhD dissertation, and then promptly moved to England for a job in my field of study. I've been in the UK since February 10 and I finally feel like I'm settling into a routine, which means I finally have time to write posts again! And it's quite convenient since all of this travel has given me an easy topic for this month:

 How do you decide what books to take with you when you're moving by plane?

All I have to say is, thank goodness for e-books! When I went to England from Canada for a year in university, it was absolute agony to choose what to take in my two suitcases. I ended up bringing far too many books; at the same time, it was far too few since I burned through them in no time.

This time, my move to England is more permanent as I have a contract for an 18-month position. I brought only one paper book: CAST IN SORROW by Michelle Sagara. This was largely because I needed something to read on the plane and I find her work absolutely captivating. Funnily enough, I ended up sleeping most of the way over so it's actually sitting untouched on my nightstand (I've been reading all of my eARCs) but it's very comforting to have a real book on hand. I really miss my books. I miss reading them, I miss seeing them on my shelves, I miss getting my books in the mail. I'm particularly dying to re-read Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series, Kevin Hearne's Iron Druid Chronicles, and everything by Seanan McGuire, something I do almost every year.

Thanks to my e-reader, packing was a little bit easier than it could have been, in this respect. Without my e-reader, packing would have been more challenging since I would have had to sacrifice some of the space in my two precious suitcases to satisfying my reading needs. (I will likely end up purchasing some of my favourites as e-books, which may lead to an obscene purchasing spree once I get paid. That or I'll bring a bunch of them back with me the next time I'm in St. John's.) In any case, I definitely have some favourite books (which you can see in my Top Ten Tuesday post from this week) that I wish I'd packed and that I'll either be bringing back or re-purchasing but at least I have some of my favourites, like Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate for when I'm in the mood to re-read a favourite.

What books would you take with you? Are you as grateful as I am for e-books?

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 09:15

 Soapboxing  9 People left their mark

Soapboxing: Novellas, yay or nay?

With Novella November going strong I thought it would be the perfect moment to discuss these short stories!

Novellas are more and more popular, especially amongst young adult series and I have to confess I have split feeling about them.

On the plus side, when you love a series, you usually can't get enough of its characters and novella is just the perfect way to fill a craving! Not only you can get an extra treat you wouldn't get in a novel, but they are usually released between books. The torture of waiting for the next installment then feels much more bearable!

Novellas are also the perfect short read when you have only a little time on your hands. Waiting for an appointment? Don't feel like starting a book now because you won't have much time to read? Why not read that novella you've had on your ereader for a while?

Also, I must confess, novellas are lifesavers for those weeks life gets in the way and I don't have time to read a full length novel in time for my Friday reviews! But shhh, don't tell anyone!

On the other hand, I find that even though novellas are a fun read, I don't read them as much as I would like to because they are often too expensive for what you get. I categorically refuse to pay more than a dollar for a story that is under 50 pages. For example, The Transfer, a Divergent novella, is 1,99$ on amazon (though I see it at 4,35$ for some reason) and it's only 30 pages long. I would NEVER pay that price even though I like this series. Also, Hana, a Delirium novella, is 3,26$ for 60 pages. Again, it feels like a total rip off.

Thankfully, there are a lot of free (Maria V Snyder has many on her website) or really cheap novellas out there for our enjoyment!

Now I'm asking you, do you read novellas? Do you like them? What's the maximum price you'll pay to read one?

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 02:02

 Feature, Soapboxing  27 People left their mark

Soapboxing: When is it time to say goodbye to a series?

When is it time to say goodbye to a series or an author? When I find a series or an author that I like, I get really invested in their books and characters. I want them to do well and I want the stories to be consistently wonderful. I don't think that these are unreasonable expectations, especially since I've never met an author who set out to write a deliberately terrible story. But although I wish for lots and lots of time with my favourite characters and series, I also think there's definitely a time to say goodbye to them. There comes a point when all of the best stories are told and characters should get their final story. It's good for the author, who gets to start working on something fresh, and it's good for readers, because there's nothing worse than stale storytelling.

So, when is it time to let go of a series? How do you know it's the end?

I've been thinking about this question a lot lately.Many of the series I follow have hit the double digits now, which is an amazing accomplishment. There are lots of talented writers out there but not everyone hits the 10 or 20 book milestone with a series -- some by their own choice but also some because of publisher decisions. For some authors, the double digit marker signals a revitalization of their world and characters but, for others, the length of a series begins to drag the books down.

Some series keep getting better and better as they go (or at least maintain the same level of awesome as in the earlier books). Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series kept growing and changing and I was right there with her until the final page of THIRTEEN. Sure there were books I liked less than others *cough* PERSONAL DEMON *cough* but I loved the world and the series as a whole. I thought she did a great job of wrapping up existing storylines and I really like how the final three books read together. I hope she'll revisit the world one day but it's okay if she doesn't. I have thirteen wonderful novels and an assortment of novellas to read over and over again. And if she does pick up the pen for this series again, I'll be the first in line to order book #14.

Jennifer Estep is another favourite author who's about to double digits with her Elemental Assassin series. If you follow the blog, you've seen me wax poetic over Estep's writing so you know I'm a fan. One of the things that keeps me interested? The characters keep evolving and the series-arc mysteries keep coming. There were a couple moments in HEART OF VENOM (book #9) where I felt like the pacing was very similar to earlier books in the series but I'm super excited for the tenth book, THE SPIDER, because it's kicking the series in the pants. Estep is taking us back to Gin's early days, and showing us how she became the Spider. With the next two books after that, we'll return to the present time and the mystery of M. M. Monroe but I think the flashback book will give the Elemental Assassin back some of the freshness and really spark some new reader interest.

I'm still completely hooked on Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Nalini Singh's Psy/Changeling series even though both of these series have progressed well past 10 books each. Singh keeps things fresh with new protagonists for each book, bringing back our favourite couples as secondary characters. Butcher keeps Harry Dresden on his toes in such creative ways and in an ever-expanding universe so I don't think I'll ever get tired of his words. I'm sure you guys can think of some other great long-running series that still have you as hooked as they did from the first page of that first book!


There are also some excellent shorter series that have ended or will end because the author has decided to stop. Jeaniene Frost's Cat and Bones books, for example, will end with UP FROM THE GRAVE. I'm not really a Cat and Bones fan (I'm sorry!) and I know there are tons of readers out there who are saddened by this news but you have to think positively. Frost is ending the series on her own terms, which means you'll get a kick-ass final novel for the series. Sierra Dean's Secret McQueen series will also end after seven novels (though that 's still a ways away), Rachel Vincent ended her Shifters series with ALPHA (book #6) and Soul Screamers with WITH ALL MY SOUL (book #7), Ilona Andrews closed off The Edge books beautifully with STEEL'S EDGE, Vicki Pettersson said goodbye to Joanna in THE NEON GRAVEYARD (book #6), Richelle Mead ended the Vampire Academy and Dark Swan series with a bang...The list goes on and on. And what have we gotten after the end of these series? More beautiful books in creative new worlds. After completing Faythe and Kaylee's stories, Vincent gave us the amazing Unbound series and her upcoming work sounds just as interesting, Frost has her spin-off series so you haven't truly said goodbye to Cat and Bones, etc. And there's definitely something to be said for a really tight trilogy like The Hunger Games.

On the other hand, there are series that have gone on a bit too long for me. I've talked before about how the Sookie Stackhouse books have really lost me. I haven't even bought DEAD EVER AFTER yet. I'm waiting until it's in the bargain pile for $5 because I'm not that interested in the end of Sookie's story but I want to have the complete series. (I'm a completionist.) And I keep buying Chicagoland Vampire and Anita Blake books even though they don't capture me the way they used to. Again, completionist, and the hope that these series will recapture their former glory.

So, what do you guys think?

What's your favourite long-running series? Are there series you can't stop reading even though you think they've gone downhill?

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds…
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 03:00

 Soapboxing  14 People left their mark

Soapboxing: My "great escape"

I've been planning a national conference for over a year and it's happening as you read this. It's been making me a little crazy and a lot absentminded in my non-conference life (which is why I missed my DYTR post a couple weeks ago...boo!), and you can probably guess that I'm a little stressed trying to get everything done so that my delegates have a smooth and lovely experience. My great escape when I just can't take it anymore? Reading. When I get really overwhelmed, I crave the escapism of a favourite book, so today I'm sharing my go-to books for stress relief/a break from life/just wanting a quality read. They are:

Anything by Ilona Andrews (and I mean anything). My copy of MAGIC RISES (which came out on the 30th) couldn't have arrived at a better time since I dove right in and finished it the night I got it. You will eventually see a review (hint: it's made of awesome) but not for a while since there are review books that must be discussed before personal purchases. In any case, I know that an Ilona Andrews book is going to deliver everything I could want in a story: humour, adventure, romance (most of the time), action, and a strong, unpredictable plot. Andrews' work is just about perfect and they've written in so many different genres (or blends of genres) that I can read a full-length novel or dive into one of their novellas, depending on my mood. If I knew where they lived, I'd send them boxes of cookies to show how appreciative I am of their work. =)

Jennifer Estep is another author that I can rely on when I'm looking for a book to take me away from it all. Both her adults Elemental Assassin series and her YA Mythos Academy books are fantastic and I can't say enough good things about them. And if I'm looking for some lighter romance, I can turn to her Bigtime books for a little superhero romance. What can't this woman write? ;)

Another "great escape" for me is historical romance. I don't talk about this genre on Team Tynga's Reviews since it's outside of the blog's scope but I am a die-hard fan of historical romance. My first romance novel was WHITNEY, MY LOVE by Judith McNaught and I haven't looked back since! There's something so wonderful about immersing yourself in a different time period and I love knowing that there's a HEA in the works for the main characters. And there's something about the setting, the gallantry, and the clothes that makes historical romance a great way for me to decompress. A well-researched historical romance is just about the best thing ever, and it's a great way for my brain to refresh if I'm in the mood for something a little outside of the genres I read for this blog.

I'm also a lifelong lover of mystery novels. I don't go back to my Nancy Drews as much as I used to but there are some fantastic mystery writers out there and I get sucked into their worlds every time. I love J. D. Robb's series since it's a futuristic series with a strong central couple -- who doesn't love a kickass cop and her billionaire husband with a criminal past? I'm also a big fan of Agatha Christie when I'm in the mood for something a little old school since there's nothing better than Ms. Marple doing her thing.

How about you? What are your "great escape" books? Please share in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds... The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 07:54

 Soapboxing  1 Person left their mark

Soapboxing: A Decrease in Reading in Younger Generations

I know, I know. You can argue that I'm among the younger ones of this generation as well. I mean, I'm only 18 years old. But it still completely tears me apart inside to see 5 - 10 year old children that don't read. So, let's begin...

I've noticed this unfortunate trend because I work at a library. I don't know about any of you, but I really love the national reading program to get children reading. This years theme is Dig Into Reading and the cute dinosaurs and bug prizes seem to really have the kids participating excited. The more books you read, the more little prizes you win and the more chances you get at winning the bigger prizes, like stuffed animals or ant farms, or huge life-size blown up t-rex's. The list and the fun is infinite. And it's a point of pride that in my library consortium consisting of about 75 other libraries, my library has always finished somewhere in the top 10 libraries. But this year, we have the least amount of kids signed up that have ever signed up despite the fact that my area experienced some sort of mini baby-boom a few years ago.

And you want to know what the excuse is every time we ask if a child would like to join?

No, thanks! I've got too much reading for school!

I love the fact that the schools are giving the kids more reading, but they're making them hate reading. When I was younger, I was given a list of about 20 different books each summer and I could pick any one I wanted. There was books for boys, books for girls, books about princesses, books about sports. There was something for everyone. Now, the kids are given two assigned books: one biography and another non-fiction book. And they're long, monotonous, and boring. It's making these kids hate reading. I literally see this face all the time when parents take kids to the library to try to get them to read their summer reading.

The face just screams: READING SUCKS!

Again, I'm beginning college in September and I still sit here sometime and run screaming for the hills when I am assigned a required non-fiction reading book. If I don't like them now, I most definitely hated them when I was younger and still learning how to read. If a book didn't have cute animals, a paranormal aspect, or something fairytale-like in it, I would not pick it up. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that a majority of the younger kids today share similar sentiments.

Time after time I've had parents rant to me about this, about how their kids just won't read anymore because it's taking them forever to get through these uninteresting non-fiction books. Some parents don't like this either. And I feel as if it's a true problem because reading is so important to me and a great majority of people who will probably read this post. I've seen the most eager beginning readers stop reading because the material their school provided them just made them fall asleep. And while I understand the importance of pushing non-fiction books because of educational purposes, I think school's could go about it in different ways. Their attempt to expand a readers horizons is not going well right now.

I'd be more compelled to read such a book in a classroom setting as opposed to at home in the summer. Anything I read in the summer, I would want to be fun and I would want to enjoy it. The summer is not for suffering! The summer is for fun! In the classroom we can read it as a group on a schedule set by a teacher and we can ask questions. I think that younger readers would benefit more from that then their parents telling them they have to finish a book that they hate.

Perhaps they can push such a thing for older kids instead of beginning readers. You know, those kids who are beginning to prepare for the fact that they're going to have to write essays with books as sources that they must read to glean information from. Odds are those kids still hate nonfiction books too (I know I did!) but they'll be more likely to read said books because they're going to have to in order to continue on with their education in the near future. Plus, it doesn't ruin the amazing thing that is reading for them since they have been reading for so long. By this point in their education they'd figure out by themselves whether they're dedicated readers or not. They wouldn't have the option forced away by bad reading material.

I end up in reading funk's after reading a single bad book. It could take me a few days to get back into reading. A kid who doesn't really understand what reading can do for them because they're still learning to read just gives it all up and misses out on the opportunities that it can offer at the first sign of a bad book. And when these books are getting handed to them so young the results seem to be bad. No bueno, people! Witnessing this for the past two months does not make me a happy camper.

What's your stance on this issue? Is something similar to this happening near you? Do you think there's a better way that school's can go about introducing non-fiction reading materials to young students?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Lili at 07:00

 Soapboxing  15 People left their mark

Soapboxing: A Decrease in Reading in Younger Generations

I know, I know. You can argue that I'm among the younger ones of this generation as well. I mean, I'm only 18 years old. But it still completely tears me apart inside to see 5 - 10 year old children that don't read. So, let's begin...

I've noticed this unfortunate trend because I work at a library. I don't know about any of you, but I really love the national reading program to get children reading. This years theme is Dig Into Reading and the cute dinosaurs and bug prizes seem to really have the kids participating excited. The more books you read, the more little prizes you win and the more chances you get at winning the bigger prizes, like stuffed animals or ant farms, or huge life-size blown up t-rex's. The list and the fun is infinite. And it's a point of pride that in my library consortium consisting of about 75 other libraries, my library has always finished somewhere in the top 10 libraries. But this year, we have the least amount of kids signed up that have ever signed up despite the fact that my area experienced some sort of mini baby-boom a few years ago.

And you want to know what the excuse is every time we ask if a child would like to join?

No, thanks! I've got too much reading for school!

I love the fact that the schools are giving the kids more reading, but they're making them hate reading. When I was younger, I was given a list of about 20 different books each summer and I could pick any one I wanted. There was books for boys, books for girls, books about princesses, books about sports. There was something for everyone. Now, the kids are given two assigned books: one biography and another non-fiction book. And they're long, monotonous, and boring. It's making these kids hate reading. I literally see this face all the time when parents take kids to the library to try to get them to read their summer reading.

The face just screams: READING SUCKS!

Again, I'm beginning college in September and I still sit here sometime and run screaming for the hills when I am assigned a required non-fiction reading book. If I don't like them now, I most definitely hated them when I was younger and still learning how to read. If a book didn't have cute animals, a paranormal aspect, or something fairytale-like in it, I would not pick it up. And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that a majority of the younger kids today share similar sentiments.

Time after time I've had parents rant to me about this, about how their kids just won't read anymore because it's taking them forever to get through these uninteresting non-fiction books. Some parents don't like this either. And I feel as if it's a true problem because reading is so important to me and a great majority of people who will probably read this post. I've seen the most eager beginning readers stop reading because the material their school provided them just made them fall asleep. And while I understand the importance of pushing non-fiction books because of educational purposes, I think school's could go about it in different ways. Their attempt to expand a readers horizons is not going well right now.

I'd be more compelled to read such a book in a classroom setting as opposed to at home in the summer. Anything I read in the summer, I would want to be fun and I would want to enjoy it. The summer is not for suffering! The summer is for fun! In the classroom we can read it as a group on a schedule set by a teacher and we can ask questions. I think that younger readers would benefit more from that then their parents telling them they have to finish a book that they hate.

Perhaps they can push such a thing for older kids instead of beginning readers. You know, those kids who are beginning to prepare for the fact that they're going to have to write essays with books as sources that they must read to glean information from. Odds are those kids still hate nonfiction books too (I know I did!) but they'll be more likely to read said books because they're going to have to in order to continue on with their education in the near future. Plus, it doesn't ruin the amazing thing that is reading for them since they have been reading for so long. By this point in their education they'd figure out by themselves whether they're dedicated readers or not. They wouldn't have the option forced away by bad reading material.

I end up in reading funk's after reading a single bad book. It could take me a few days to get back into reading. A kid who doesn't really understand what reading can do for them because they're still learning to read just gives it all up and misses out on the opportunities that it can offer at the first sign of a bad book. And when these books are getting handed to them so young the results seem to be bad. No bueno, people! Witnessing this for the past two months does not make me a happy camper.

What's your stance on this issue? Is something similar to this happening near you? Do you think there's a better way that school's can go about introducing non-fiction reading materials to young students?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 03:00

 Soapboxing  17 People left their mark

Soapboxing: On public libraries

Just like last month, I've thrown my intended topic out the window in favour of something that's just come to my mind: rhaposodizing about public libraries. I stopped by my local library the other day and was sad to see very few patrons, which got me thinking:

Do people still visit public libraries? Are libraries relevant in this increasingly digital age?

When I was a kid, I was an unabashed bookworm who practically lived at the public library. I'm lucky enough to have a mom who is also a big reader and we spent many an evening or weekend afternoon scanning the shelves at different branches. My mom is a romance and mystery reader so I got into those genres early but there were so many amazing options that I quickly started branching out. I remained, at heart, a mystery lover, though, and my bedroom was filled with Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys (I particularly loved those super mysteries where they would come together and the romantic tension between Frank and Nancy would kill me every time -- though they would never get together because Nancy was with Ned), Encyclopedia Brown, The Three Investigators, The Famous Five, The Babysitter's Club, and The Bobbsey Twins on a regular basis. Librarians knew me because i was such a regular customer. My elementary school was also blessed with a large budget so I had a neverending To Be Read pile and I can't imagine growing up any other way. Some of my best childhood memories involve the library or books, and I never would have been able to read as much as I did if it wasn't for my local library. I still remember weeping my way through GONE WITH THE WIND in sixth grade (super nerd alert!), crushing on Frank Hardy, wishing I were more like Blyton's George, relating to Claudia's multicultural family in TBC, and wondering why I could never figure things out like all of the teen investigators in my books. My brother used to play hockey in a community centre with a library and I used to run down there as soon as we arrived so that I could try to read a whole book before the game was over.

I remained a die-hard patron of the library until I went away to university. I stopped going to public libraries once I started my undergrad, except for when I was home for holidays and would go with my mom. Part of it was being overseas for my first year and wanting to experience the world, not read about it, but even after I returned to Canada, I was a book buyer, not a book borrower. Once I moved to Newfoundland, I tried to get back into the spirit but I found myself a little depressed about the state of affairs in the libraries in St. John's. They weren't nearly as good as the libraries in my hometown and I couldn't find the books I was looking for -- all the urban fantasy and paranormal romance that I was introduced to by my friend, Amy. Thankfully, she had an amazing collection and let me borrow at will so I was still able to dive into the genre that I obviously still love.

I'm proud to report that I have rediscovered my local library in the past couple years. We've had a sporadic relationship since I moved to Newfoundland in 2003 but the selection has really improved in the past few years, and my reading tastes have also changed as I've gotten older. I'm diving back into historical romance, a subgenre I adored in high school, and the library also has a fantastic collection of DVDs and Blu-Ray, which is great for me since we don't have cable and I don't want to download illegally. (I just got Little Shop of Horrors, which I've wanted to see for quite a while!) I also just discovered that my local library will try to order books for me if I request them, which is just about the coolest thing ever. I went in the other day hoping to find HEART OF OBSIDIAN because I have all the other books in paperback but I need to know what's going on (and I haven't read any reviews to avoid spoilers) so if you see a review from me about that book anytime soon you'll know my library came through for me. Or I caved.

It also helps that the local library has recently gotten into ebooks. I love it because it means I have the convenience of a digital download and I don't have to remember to go back to the library since the book automatically disappears once the due date arrives. The only downside is that there's a cap of five books, which isn't a lot for a girl who routinely took out about ten books per visit as a kid, but it's a small sacrifice to have all sorts of amazing titles available from home. I'm diving back into all sorts of series that I read when I was younger and it's been a lot of fun. Plus, the online section has a lot of titles that they don't carry as physical books so the selection is the best it's ever been.

Plus, libraries track what books get borrowed, which can help your favourite authors. Buying a book is one way to show your love for an author but you can also take their work out from the library and have it count, too. I'm not certain about the weighting of puchases versus library use but publishers need to know that their authors are in demand and that they should keep publishing them. Having a small book-buying budget doesn't mean you can't support an author -- it just means you need to find another outlet and I would urge you to choose your local public library. It has the added benefit of supporting an important part of the community since libraries are often the only place that some people can get reading material or have access to the Internet for free. And you'll probably be surprised by just how awesome your local library can be. It's a great way to discover new titles and authors, or even get involved in a book club!

So, what's your stance on public libraries? Do you go? Please share in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by jenn at 07:00

 Soapboxing  28 People left their mark

Soapboxing: On public libraries

Just like last month, I've thrown my intended topic out the window in favour of something that's just come to my mind: rhaposodizing about public libraries. I stopped by my local library the other day and was sad to see very few patrons, which got me thinking:

Do people still visit public libraries? Are libraries relevant in this increasingly digital age?

When I was a kid, I was an unabashed bookworm who practically lived at the public library. I'm lucky enough to have a mom who is also a big reader and we spent many an evening or weekend afternoon scanning the shelves at different branches. My mom is a romance and mystery reader so I got into those genres early but there were so many amazing options that I quickly started branching out. I remained, at heart, a mystery lover, though, and my bedroom was filled with Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys (I particularly loved those super mysteries where they would come together and the romantic tension between Frank and Nancy would kill me every time -- though they would never get together because Nancy was with Ned), Encyclopedia Brown, The Three Investigators, The Famous Five, The Babysitter's Club, and The Bobbsey Twins on a regular basis. Librarians knew me because i was such a regular customer. My elementary school was also blessed with a large budget so I had a neverending To Be Read pile and I can't imagine growing up any other way. Some of my best childhood memories involve the library or books, and I never would have been able to read as much as I did if it wasn't for my local library. I still remember weeping my way through GONE WITH THE WIND in sixth grade (super nerd alert!), crushing on Frank Hardy, wishing I were more like Blyton's George, relating to Claudia's multicultural family in TBC, and wondering why I could never figure things out like all of the teen investigators in my books. My brother used to play hockey in a community centre with a library and I used to run down there as soon as we arrived so that I could try to read a whole book before the game was over.

I remained a die-hard patron of the library until I went away to university. I stopped going to public libraries once I started my undergrad, except for when I was home for holidays and would go with my mom. Part of it was being overseas for my first year and wanting to experience the world, not read about it, but even after I returned to Canada, I was a book buyer, not a book borrower. Once I moved to Newfoundland, I tried to get back into the spirit but I found myself a little depressed about the state of affairs in the libraries in St. John's. They weren't nearly as good as the libraries in my hometown and I couldn't find the books I was looking for -- all the urban fantasy and paranormal romance that I was introduced to by my friend, Amy. Thankfully, she had an amazing collection and let me borrow at will so I was still able to dive into the genre that I obviously still love.

I'm proud to report that I have rediscovered my local library in the past couple years. We've had a sporadic relationship since I moved to Newfoundland in 2003 but the selection has really improved in the past few years, and my reading tastes have also changed as I've gotten older. I'm diving back into historical romance, a subgenre I adored in high school, and the library also has a fantastic collection of DVDs and Blu-Ray, which is great for me since we don't have cable and I don't want to download illegally. (I just got Little Shop of Horrors, which I've wanted to see for quite a while!) I also just discovered that my local library will try to order books for me if I request them, which is just about the coolest thing ever. I went in the other day hoping to find HEART OF OBSIDIAN because I have all the other books in paperback but I need to know what's going on (and I haven't read any reviews to avoid spoilers) so if you see a review from me about that book anytime soon you'll know my library came through for me. Or I caved.

It also helps that the local library has recently gotten into ebooks. I love it because it means I have the convenience of a digital download and I don't have to remember to go back to the library since the book automatically disappears once the due date arrives. The only downside is that there's a cap of five books, which isn't a lot for a girl who routinely took out about ten books per visit as a kid, but it's a small sacrifice to have all sorts of amazing titles available from home. I'm diving back into all sorts of series that I read when I was younger and it's been a lot of fun. Plus, the online section has a lot of titles that they don't carry as physical books so the selection is the best it's ever been.

Plus, libraries track what books get borrowed, which can help your favourite authors. Buying a book is one way to show your love for an author but you can also take their work out from the library and have it count, too. I'm not certain about the weighting of puchases versus library use but publishers need to know that their authors are in demand and that they should keep publishing them. Having a small book-buying budget doesn't mean you can't support an author -- it just means you need to find another outlet and I would urge you to choose your local public library. It has the added benefit of supporting an important part of the community since libraries are often the only place that some people can get reading material or have access to the Internet for free. And you'll probably be surprised by just how awesome your local library can be. It's a great way to discover new titles and authors, or even get involved in a book club!

So, what's your stance on public libraries? Do you go? Please share in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by Tynga at 03:00

 Soapboxing  28 People left their mark

Soapboxing: Readers' rights

I had every intention of kicking off our new Soapboxing feature with a different post but this seemed a lot more timely in the wake of the brouhaha around the final Sookie Stackhouse novel. I'm sure most of you know what I'm talking about but here's the Coles Notes version for those of you who have managed to avoid it: Someone in Germany got their hands on a copy of DEAD EVER AFTER early and didn't like it. S/he then proceeded to post spoilers about who Sookie ends up with and, I believe, even copied some of the text out. Now, I haven't gone looking to find out what was actually shared because I don't want it to be spoiled (I'll find out once my copy arrives in the mail) but the furor around this really got me thinking:

What rights do we have as readers? What kind of relationships should we have with authors?

I'm going to say right off the bat, readers DO NOT have the right to dictate to authors. We have the right to buy -- or not buy -- a book. (And by book I mean book/novella/novellette/etc. Pretty much any work of fiction). We have the right to read -- or not read -- a book. We have the right to our opinions about what happens in a book and the right to share those opinions, hopefully not by flaming the author, but freedom of speech is a right many of us have and exercise. But you can't legitimately argue that readers should decide how a story goes. If that's what you're looking for, you either need to invest in some Choose Your Own Adventure books or become an author yourself because there is no way that readers should be able to command authors or make big (or small) decisions about storylines. As readers, our primary job is to read the book. As authors, writers are supposed to create stories and can spend months or years crafting something that we spend a few hours reading. There's no contract that says an author has to write a book everyone loves. There's no law that says writing a book should be based on collective opinion. Unless you're the one writing the book, you don't get to choose how things go. As a reader, you're there for the ride.

Don't get me wrong, there are times when I've really disliked decisions that have been made by authors. The Sookie Stackhouse books have gone downhill for me and I definitely think that the early books in the series are better than the last two or three. And that's my right. I am entitled to this opinion, just like someone else can think that DEADLOCKED is the bee's knees and shout that from the skies. I'm allowed to say that I think that Chloe Neill's Chicagoland Vampires books went downhill once she resurrected Ethan. But this doesn't give me license to spew hate at the author, or post gigantic spoilers, or pirate books. All it means is I get to offer my two cents on the blog or to my friends or almost anywhere else and, as a decent human being, I should be doing it in a constructive way. And sometimes things that I really don't like end up being great for a series. I was so brokenhearted when Kelley Armstrong switched her narrator from Elena to Paige in her Otherworld series. After two books, all I wanted was more Elena and Paige was such a different character that I was totally bummed out by DIME STORE MAGIC. But you know what? Having revolving narrators made the series more interesting because you see so much more of the universe. And while the Elena-narrated stories are my favourites, I can understand why, as an author, Armstrong made this creative decision, and appreciate what it gives me as a reader.

On some levels, this all boils down to respect, freedom, and decency. If I spent a year or more working on something and then hundreds of strangers decided it was okay to tell me all the reasons why they hate me and my work, I'd be hurt, especially given the kind of language people sometimes use in these diatribes. And a lot of people turn their dislike about a plot point or a character into flat-out hatred for an author and it can get ugly. (Sidebar: Authors can also get ugly with their readers so I'm not saying that this is a one-way street. Decency and respect go both ways.)

If you go to Charlaine Harris' Facebook page, for example, you'll see she posts a response to the news about spoilers and even opens up the thread for positive and negative comments. She is one classy lady. I don't think I'd be this open or brave:

What I didn't copy were the 1,600+ comments mostly because of privacy and space but also because there are some damn hateful things in there. It's been said before but I'm saying it again: the Internet can bring out the worst in people because of the anonymity it provides. I'm pretty sure that most of the people on this thread wouldn't walk up to Charlaine Harris and say these extreme things to her face.At least I hope not. I heard that Jennifer Estep was receptive to some bloggers at RT discussing why they don't like Owen with her, which is very cool of her, but I don't think she should change the overall story arcs she has planned just because some people don't like Owen anymore. I also assume that these bloggers were voicing an opinion, not throwing insults or trying to get Estep to change her planned course of action. (I wasn't there so I can't say for sure but I'm a big fan of some of the people involved in that discussion and I can't imagine them being hateful.) Savvy authors go into things knowing that not everyone is going to love everything about their books but no one should be on the receiving end of the kind of vitriolic stuff I've seen lately online, not just around DEAD EVER AFTER but also about other books.

It's your right as a reader to break up with a series. It's your right as a reader to voice your thoughts. It's not your right as a reader to throw common decency out the window because one fictional characters ends up with "the wrong" fictional boyfriend. In the grand scheme of things, this is not the end of the world. No matter how attached you are to a character, life goes on. You can always imagine them ending up differently if it bothers you that much. Many an individual has done just that with fan fiction.

If artists listened to all of the haters in the world, we probably wouldn't have all the great works of art, music, and literature that exist today. I'm not saying the Sookie Stackhouse books are on the same level as a Picasso but I am saying this: writing is a creative pursuit and it's the nature of creative works not to appeal to everyone. Art in all its forms is subjective and not liking something doesn't mean you should slander another human being. Readers should read. Readers should feel so passionately about a book or a character that they get emotionally invested. That's how you know an author has done a great job. Readers should feel free to have their say and share their feelings about a story. Readers should not try to tell an author what to do or rage at an author because they don't like how a story is going.

What do you think? I'm curious to hear your thoughts. Please share in the comments!

Soapboxing is our platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...
The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Read More

Posted by jenn at 09:30

 Soapboxing  11 People left their mark

Introducing Soapboxing

Hello, everyone, Jenn here! I'm quite excited about this post because we are kicking off a new feature here on Team Tynga's Reviews! It's called Soapboxing and it's our new platform for talking about books and book-related topics that matter to us. Soapboxing posts may be rants, they may highlight awesome or terrifying trends, or they might tackle bookish issues on our minds...The content will vary but the posts will (hopefully) never be boring!

Why "Soapboxing"? The nerdy academic in me says the best way to explain is by offering a definition:

soapbox: an improvised platform used by a self-appointed, spontaneous, or informal orator; broadly : something that provides an outlet for delivering opinions [Miriam-Webster Online]

I can't think of a more appropriate title for this feature, can you?

I've been dying to write more opinion pieces for the blog and so we're going to give it a try! I had so much fun writing Why Whedonites Will Love STORMDANCER back in September and now we're going to make these types of posts a regular occurrence. In fact, starting today, Soapboxing will be a monthly feature! And don't worry, it won't just be me! =)

We hope you'll enjoy it and will most definitely be grateful for any feedback you'd care to offer.

To kick things off, I'm going talk about something that's been on my mind for a while, and that seems rather timely given the goings on around DEAD EVER AFTER. Curious? Come and check it out!

Read More

Posted by jenn at 09:29

 Soapboxing  Leave your mark