Insta(gram)-Love

Amazon Buys Goodreads (paidcontent.org)

It's Friday, Friday, which means it's time for linky interestingness. Obviously, the biggest news in the book world this week was the Amazon acquisition of Goodreads, which I have many, many feelings about, which I can't possibly encapsulate in just a few sentences--maybe I'll muster the energy to do a brain dump post about it, fingers crossed.

This is a slightly abbreviate Links + Things, due to my awesome friend Lizzy being in town, so no cover art news, unfortunately. Don't forget to scroll down to the end find deals on a couple of CEFS favorites books.

This Week's Video of Awesome

I adored Before Sunrise (which I saw in the theater my senior year of high school and thought was the most romantic thing ever--sigh) and very much enjoyed the not-resolution in the 2004 movie, Before Sunset. There's a part of me that's ridiculously nervous about the third installment that's coming out this year, Before Midnight. But, obviously, I'll be seeing it as soon as it hits the theaters later this year.

Interestingness

Goodreads is also likely to be less open with access to its data now that it has been acquired by Amazon. In the past, the company has shared information about how its readers discover and buy books and about their digital reading habits, presenting the data at conferences and in blog posts.

Undoubtedly, the biggest book news this week is that Amazon acquired Goodreads. I'm going to be honest, this didn't surprise me in the least. I remember a year or so ago, Jane at Dear Author predicted that this would happen and I recall thinking that while I, as a Goodreads user, consumer and person who lives in the world, didn't like the idea, from a business perspective, it would be a smart move for Amazon.

Those of you who are Goodreads friends with me have probably noticed that I don't update or comment there as frequently as have in the past. That has more to do with the way the climate has changed, particularly that as the self-published books have been dominating my friend feed and all the drama and fighting that erupted awhile back.

Frankly, this news makes me want to be even more careful about the information I post on Goodreads, due to my increasing paranoia about Big Data. It's tough, because I am an Amazon customer, and love my Kindle, but I am so uncomfortable with the integration of all my information (hence, I don't link my Facebook account to Goodreads either) and the fact that it seems like all information will be owned by Amazon, Google or Facebook.

Sigh...

Mar 27

Mar 27 Twofer Review: Shatter Me & Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi

One of my favorite things about the book blogging world is that sometimes it gives me the shove I need to read books I would have normally passed up. Such is the case of Tahereh Mafi's Shatter Me, which came highly recommended by the lovely Angie, whose taste is very similar to my own.

Frankly, I'd assumed that the Shatter Me series was yet another in a long series of dystopian copycats that are just okay. (I'm looking at you, Divergent, Legend, Delirium, et al.) However, to my surprise, I was absolutely sucked into the--and I mean this in a good way--absolute weirdness of the writing style and narration.

Juliette has spent her teen years locked away in a prison because her touch is fatal--she's killed before. Her family has shunned her and the system doesn't care about her. So she sits in a cell. Alone. Abandoned.

All I ever wanted was to reach out and touch another human being not just with my hands but with my heart.

She frantically scribbles her semi-maniacal thoughts in a journal, until one day, she's no longer by herself. A new prisoner is locked up in her cell--it's Adam a boy from her past who has secrets of his own.

Eventually (intentional vagueness here to avoid spoilage), the story's location shifts to the compound of the regional government, where the young madman Warner, hopes to figure out how to use Juliette's power for his own destructive purposes.

In both Shatter Me and its sequel, Unravel Me, Warner steals many of the scenes.

Mar 26

Mar 26 The Top Ten Lyrics from Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience

Listorama, Greatest Hits

One of my favorite things about running this blog is that as owner of said blog, I can write about whatever I damn well please.

In that spirit--and as a service to the world--today, I'm counting down the top ten best lyrics from Justin Timberlake's new album. Someone had to do it, right?

#10

And now it's clear as this promise
That we're making
Two reflections into one
Cause it's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me

--Mirrors

Mirrors is kind of narcissistic if you analyze it literally, now that I think about it, but still... Anyway, I'm going to go with the belief that this is a song about Justin & Jessica and the idea of two halves of the same whole, yada yada.

Bonus: This is a rare song which is better with the video--and not just because of the crazy dancing at the end.

#9

C'mon and dance,
C'mon baby dance with me
Take my hand,
Get on the floor
C'mon baby dance with me
Please don't hold the wall
Please don't hold the wall tonight
We're gonna do it all,
So please don't hold the wall tonight

--Don't Hold the Wall

I'm conflicted. What do you do when Justin Timberlake encourages you to dance, dance? I mean, you'll never be able to match JT's moves, so that's a lot of pressure. However, I suspect that Justin also doesn't judge bad dancing, as long as you're feeling the music or what have you.

Mar 25

Mar 25 Podcast: Episode 2 - Privilege + Class in Just One Day and Beyond

Podcast, Podcast: Season One

Mar 23

Mar 23 Three Mini Reviews: A Paranormal YA, Funny Urban Fantasy + A Kick-Ass Aussie Contemporary

I've recently read a few books (or in one case, didn't finish) that I didn't take particularly good notes about, which means I can't write a full-on review. But, I wanted to give some quickie thoughts on these three, which I recommend with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

The Last Echo (The Body Finder #3) by Kimberly Derting

I read the first two books in Kim Derting's Body Finder series, but then decided to wait until the series was completed to finish it up (I have cut way back on my series reading, because it was actually getting hard to keep things straight). I picked up the third book in this series at a super-fun event the author hosted at Powell's along with one of my favorites, Lisa Schroeder, back in February. (I also won an ARC of the final book in the series, Dead Silence, by identifying whose tweets were whose--apparently, I spend a lot of time on social media.Ahem.)

I've recommended The Body Finder series to so many people, particularly Actual Teens, who like mysteries of paranormal stories, because these books really do it right. The aspect of this series that I think is really quite good is the relationship between Violet and her childhood best friend turned boyfriend, Jay. It's warm, it's grown through the series and avoids the yucky gender dynamics of many paranormal YA novels. (You know what I mean.)

Mar 22

Mar 22 Links + Things: Justin Timberlake! The Calming Manatee! Plagiarism (Ugh)! Sexism (Double Ugh)! Libraries! General Interestingness!

Jane Goodall’s ‘Seeds of Hope’ book contains borrowed passages without attribution (Wash. Post)

You guys, it's been slow around these parts because I kind of lost the plot with my reading and nearly every book I've read in March isn't out until May or June. Obviously, I would be a jerk if I started reviewing things that weren't out for months--on a number of levels.

However! I have many links of interestingness, including a Very Special Section devoted to the one and only Justin Timberlake. I have had The 20/20 Experience on repeat since Tuesday and I am in love--especially with Pusher Love Girl, which is Swoon City, USA.

This Week's Video of Awesome

This is a fantastic speculative ad for Durex--it's brilliant and actually tells you want you need to know about the product.

Interestingness

Jane Goodall, the primatologist celebrated for her meticulous studies of chimps in the wild, is releasing a book next month on the plant world that contains at least a dozen passages borrowed without attribution, or footnotes, from a variety of Web sites.
The borrowings in “Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder From the World of Plants” range from phrases to an entire paragraph from Web sites such as Wikipedia and others that focus on astrology, tobacco, beer, nature and organic tea.

Well, this is disappointing news to say the least. I'm getting so weary of one plagiarism story after another. I realize there are so many pressures to publish, publish, publish, but it's at the point I'm no longer all that surprised by each week's plagiarism story. What worries me the most is the desensitizing--I have had a number of students in their 20s who have been surprised by my anti-plagiarism spiel because it's the first time they've had someone explicitly address the issue of plagiarism and what it precisely means.

Mar 20

Mar 20 List-O-Rama: Tangled Like/Love/Lust That Doesn't Suck

Listorama

I know, I know... the love triangle is everyone's favorite trope to hate. But sometimes... just sometimes, it's kind of fun/intriguing/compelling.

Here are a handful of like/love/lust triangles that I've enjoyed--seriously.

The "Summer" Series by Jenny Han: Belly, Jeremiah, Conrad

Triangle Type: The Classic - Two Brothers Heart One Girl; Girl Hearts Two Brothers--Yo, It's Complicated!
This series not only features a love triangle (and it's really "love") because Belly really cares about both brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad, and they care about her. Their shared history of summers spent together at the shore makes the complexity of the relationships completely believable--it's achy and the dramatics are irresistible. Read my review here.

Amazon | Goodreads

Mar 19

Mar 19 Review: Out of the Easy by Ruta Sepetys

Sandra

The clouds shifted, and the glow of sun brightened on my face. “But she's from a really wealthy family, a good family, and she's a freshman at Smith College in Massachusetts. She even flies a plane. Charlotte kept telling me that I should apply to Smith. I know it sounds ridiculous, me being able to go to a prestigious school like that, but she sent me all the information.”
Suddenly, the insanity of the whole thing came into focus, and I nearly laughed.
“But for some reason, I began to want it, really badly. I told Willie, and she was mad. She said I had to go to school here in New Orleans, that I was out of my league trying to get into a college like that.”

Willie Woodley, the madam who owns and officiates over a high class brothel on Conti Street in New Orleans loves Josie Moraine as only a mother can love a child, love that never came from Josie's mother. Set in the milieu unique to the fifties, Out of the Easy brings a flavor and cast of characters that only that time and place can offer.

The novel's setting and characters could have been a humdrum of stereotypes, but in the hands of gifted writer, Ruta Sepetys, who wrote the excellent Between Shades of Gray, it's the polar opposite.

Josie and Willie stole my heart. I cheered for them; shed a tear or two for them when I despaired for them; and most of all, believed in them.

Josie's mother, Louise, has no redeeming qualities. She's a prostitute with no qualms about who she uses for her own purposes, which is mainly to use others to get what she wants--money and things. At age seven Josie comes to live in Willie's brothel with her mother who has no consideration for what Josie will see or experience. This house frames its beguiling women in dark brocade curtains, crystal chandeliers and paintings on the walls of nude women with expansive nipples.

Josie much prefers the local bookstore. She wanders about the shop in awe of the many books that rise above her like skyscrapers. Charlie, the owner, notices this quiet child. He befriends her and by the time she reaches eleven, he's offered her a room in his attic. To Josie, it's a secret garden filled with the smell of paper, the whisper of pages turning and the kindness of a truly fine person.

Neither the kindness of Charlie nor the love of Willie will protect Josie from the inescapable reality of her life.

Mar 15

Mar 15 Review: Star Crossed by Jennifer Echols

Jennifer Echols is one of my go-to writers for quality character development, sharp dialogue and memorable stories. Needless to say, her foray into fiction for adults with Star Crossed was one of my most anticipated novels of the year.

While I adore Jennifer's dramatic novels like Such a Rush and Going Too Far, I have a soft spot for her more light-hearted books, particularly Major Crush. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good romantic comedy to balance out all the angst and drama.

Fortunately for me, Star Crossed falls into the lighter vein of Jennifer's oeuvre.

Wendy Mann is a publicist to the stars. She's spent six years saving celebrities from their public disasters, rescuing their images and turning around careers. She's blunt and tough, and that's why she's so good at her job. Her beloved career is threatened when one of her clients pushes back and almost gets her fired. In order to save her job at the high powered PR firm where she works, Stargazer, she's sent to Las Vegas to salvage another career--that of a young singing who's nasty habit of posting inappropriate photos of herself on Twitter and publicly sparring with her ex-boyfriend.

Wendy finds herself up against her old college rival, Daniel, who's representing her client's ex. The two competed for top rankings all through school and their firms are also rivals (Daniel's father owns the firm where he works and he's expected to take over leadership of the family business). The pair's history is pretty fun. Daniel secretly crushed on Wendy from afar, but Wendy simply saw him as a rival to be squashed (she's extremely competitive). I enjoyed that their shared history wasn't as dramatic as is in a lot of novels of this ilk, it's more of a vague thing that doesn't have a lot of baggage.

Links + Things: Critiquing "Oz," Network TV's Vision Problem, How the Quiet Car Explains the World, Feminist/UnFeminist, Strong Female Characters + More

Mar 14

Mar 14 Links + Things: Critiquing "Oz," Network TV's Vision Problem, How the Quiet Car Explains the World, Feminist/UnFeminist, Strong Female Characters + More

Why ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’ Is A Major Step Back For Witches and Women (film.com)

How is it Thursday already? This has been quite a week, particularly since--at long last--we launched the Clear Eyes, Full Shelves podcast. Give it a listen--we hope you enjoy the blend of discussion, humor and hijinks.

This has been a bit of a slow week, bookish news-wise, but there's still loads of interestingness in the world. Check out a few of the tidbits I've gathered and don't forget to scroll to the end for book cover news and cheap book deals to feed your reading habit.

This Week's Video of Awesome

You Tube user dair to love created this fan-freaking-fastic tribute to Friday Night Lights. It got kind of dusty in here when I watched this the first time. Ahem.

Interestingness

No doubt the focus group responsible for “Great and Powerful” convinced themselves that female protagonists weren’t marketable (odd coming from the studio of Disney Princesses), and that a pouty, doubting hero would draw in a wider range of moviegoers. It was probably believed no one would ever see an Oz film unless it directly tied into the version they already knew and loved, and that trying to draw on original Oz tales would be too confusing and difficult. Audiences can follow along with Marvel and Tolkien, but the origin of Ozma would undoubtedly be too complicated. Why bring in Betsy and her mule, when we can have a Hollywood hunk on the poster, and witchy cleavage at the denouement?

Over at film.com, Elizabeth Rappe dissects Hollywood's prequel to The Wizard of Oz, Oz the Great and Powerful. She points out that in the Oz novels, L. Frank Baum created stories with strong women as the leads, but Hollywood's interpretation reflects none of that.The new film falls back into the gender stereotypes present in nearly every blockbuster flick. It's been a long, long time since I read a number of the original Oz novels, and I'm interested in revisiting them now .

Mar 12

Mar 12 Introducing: Clear Eyes, Full Shelves... For Your Ears!

Podcast, Announcements, Podcast: Season One

Mar 12

Mar 12 Review: Dark Tide by Elizabeth Haynes

My expectations of thrillers and mysteries are pretty simply: intriguing characters, both good and bad, a mystery that tantalizes but isn't resolved until the end, clever language and a setting that's a bit real or surreal. This is not all that unreasonable.

I received an advance reader's edition of Elizabeth Haynes second novel Dark Tide. Eagerly, I opened it and dug into it with these expectations, as the summary promised all of this and more.

Dark Tide will hit the racks and e-readers March 12. I am glad I did not pay for the book as it would have felt like I'd not spent my money wisely. With that said, for me to have a copy from the library would be a reasonable way to access the book.

The characters did not intrigue me in any way.

Genevieve, the central character, at best made me yawn and mostly irritated me. She's highly successful in sales at her London-based job but hates the work. Since she was a child she has dreamed of living on a houseboat–living on it and refurbishing and repairing it to her liking. This takes money, a lot of it.

She finds a way to earn large sums in a relatively short time doing pole dancing, private lap dancing and chatting up customers at an exclusive gentlemen's club on the weekends. With that, comes the darker side of life which she believed she held herself apart from. Money flows, she quits both jobs with rancor from her employers, buys her boat and proceeds to live her dream. But, a dark tide follows her. She meets another guy, not the guy she truly loves, but there's an undeniable attraction.

Mar 11

Mar 11 Review: Bruised by Sarah Skilton

My black belt represents everything I could've done and everything I didn't do, the only time it really mattered.

Sarah Skilton's debut novel, Bruised, opens with a gut-punch of a first scene. Imogen, a 16-year old Tae Kwon Do black belt has just witnessed a gunman be shot and killed by police while attempting a holdup at the diner. Imogen hides under a table, paralyzed as the events unfold before her.

Thanks to her years of training to achieve her black belt, Imogen always believed that she was stronger than everyone else, a real-life superhero, that she could and would diffuse a volatile situation. In the aftermath of the violence at the diner, she's wracked by guilt, convinced that she should have saved the gunman.

Imogen's entire identity is wrapped up in her Tae Kwon Do achievements. She studied hard to achieve her mediocre grades so she could practice the sport, was in constant training, followed the discipline's rules about behavior and conduct and ate all the right things. And yet, for Imogen, those years of work were all for naught when it really mattered that day at the diner.

This belief sends Imogen's sense of who she is into a tailspin as she has to piece her identity back together as she navigates her changing family relationships, friendships and her relationship with a boy, Ricky, who understands her experience in a way that no one else can.

The sharpest element of Bruised is Imogen's voice--it's absolutely unwavering in its authenticity.

If a girl punches someone, she's crazy. If a guy punches someone, he's dealing with his feelings. He's normal.

Mar 10

Mar 10 List-O-Rama: Let's Get Musical

Listorama

This past week, I started and finished reading Jennifer Echols' July release, Dirty Little Secret (which is so, so good). I enjoyed so much about this book, but the stand-out element for me was the way music played such an important role in both the plot and in developing the characters.

I'm kind of a doofus when it comes to music: I play the ukulele poorly and was a flutist in marching band in high school until I quit band to protest the ill-fitting polyester pants. (That was super-effective.) Because of my musical doofusness, I really admire people for whom music is so ingrained in their lives. I realized that as a result of that, I tend to gravitate to novels featuring music or musical people. Sometimes, much like books featuring sports, the music is just window dressing, but when it's feels real, it's so very good.

Here are a twelve (!!!) of my recommendations for musically-infused novels you'll want to check out.

Adios to My Old Life & When the Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer

Caridad Ferrer is one of my favorite authors you're probably not reading. Both Adios to My Old Life and When the Stars Go Blue are infused with passion for music and the arts in general. (Interestingly, both of these could easily be considered thematically as "new adult.") Adios to My Old Life is focuses on an American Idol-style singing competition, while Stars follows the structure of the opera Carmen and features an incredible touring marching band.

Amazon | Goodreads

Mar 7

Mar 7 Links + Things: TV and Teen Sex, Random House WTFery, Blogs and Book Sales, DRM, and the Dude Still Abides

Joss Whedon's 'Much Ado About Nothing' Trailer (Yahoo! Movies)

Whew... It's been a whole week already? Things have been a bit slow at Clear Eyes, Full Shelves due to my inability to finish a blog post. I have so many partially written things and then I talk myself into a circle and think everyone will hate what I have to say. Please tell me I'm not alone in feeling this way occasionally! (You totally have permission to lie in order to make me feel better.)

I've got a whole hodge-podge of interesting tidbits for y'all this week--don't forget to scroll down for some really good deals on good books, including a couple of freebies.

Onward ho!

Interestingness

I don't even really know what's going on with this trailer for Much Ado About Nothing, but I'm excited for this adaptation nonetheless, since I'm always a sucker for battle of the sexes-type stories and I did like Much Ado when I read it approximately one million years ago. Also, I approve of both the use of the St. Germain music and Mike Kellerman from Homicide, Life on the Street in trailer.

Mar 5

Mar 5 Recommendation Roundup: February 2013

Recommendation Roundup

Mar 4

Mar 4 Review: Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati

Sandra

Dancing in the Dark by Robyn Bavati explores the double life of Ditty, a young Haredi Jew, when she discovers the beautiful world of ballet and the passion it invokes in her. Along with this passion the darkness of an invisible wall of fundamentalist religion held together by the rigidity of her family and community.

Bavati breathes life into Ditty's dream of dancing and the depth of deceit she had to descend into to bring her passion for dance into reality.

As a young girl, Ditty happens upon a DVD of The Nutcracker while watching television in a forbidden venue--her dear friend's mother had surreptitiously purchased a television that she hides far back in her closet. Ditty could not turn herself away from the transfixing dance before her.

The movements seemed to ripple through me as my body flowed to the music, and my spirits lifted. I felt vulnerable and vibrant and intensely alive, bursting with feeling I hadn't know existed, couldn't name.

The television and DVD player opens a door to another world. Ditty and her friend become enamored with the life that spread before them. Ditty, at twelve begins to question the dictates of her faith that should, according to her religious parents and community, fill her with all the happiness and joy she could want.

But what, I wondered now, did they actually mean? I knew what I'd been taught – that happiness wasn't something a Jew should strive for, it was a bonus that came from keeping the laws and strictures that had been passed down from one generation to the next.

Mar 3

Mar 3 List-O-Rama: Beginner's Guide to Awesome WTFery

Listorama

A couple of weeks ago, I detailed my favorite fictional Awesome WTFery. I love explosions, random ghosts and fake relationships with a possibly unhealthy passion. Much of my love of WTFery manifests itself in my movie and television watching, but it creeps into books too.

Are you wanting to delve into a big of Awesome WTFery escapism? Here are a few I dare you not to secretly devour.

The Lux Novels by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Entangled Teen)

Why It's Awesome WTFery: Hot aliens live in West Virginia, hijinks ensue.
Bonus Points: Sex-Positive YA; No Love Triangle

I just blew through the first three Lux novels by Jennifer L. Armentrout, and while I'm not normally one to be embarrassed by my reading, I'm not exactly proud of not being able to put these books down. The plot of these (marginally) sci-fi young adult urban fantasy romance series is incredibly absurd and has continuity issues, but damn... the plot just moves along at a swift clip and Armentrout manages to make the reader care about snarky teen book blogger Katy and her good-looking pain-in-the-ass alien neighbor Daemon.

Amazon | Goodreads

Mar 1

Mar 1 Links + Things: Goats Sing Your Favorite Pop Songs; A Closer Look at That First Book Infographic; Facebook's Sexism; Cheapo Books; and More