Some Annotated Reading February 6

Books

I recently read the follow-up to a YA book I liked very much a few years back. I am not mentioning any titles, because the second book was a major, major disappointment. It became what I call a "skimmer." I had to start skimming to finish the thing. It was YA, but there was no indication that the YA character was YA (his backstory was in the first book). There was a lot of what might be considered thought-provoking sort of spiritual stuff that didn't really work. Some point-of-view switches that didn't make sense. Some dragging that seemed like filler. Oh, my gosh. This was the second in what was supposed to be a trilogy. The third book seems to have been dropped. The author may have never had much of an on-line presence and now seems to have disappeared. I am always sorry to see this kind of situation. 

Short-form Writing

Did a Best-selling Romantasy Novelist Steal Another Writer's Story? by Katy Waldman in The New Yorker I am a great one for missing the point when I'm reading, especially nonfiction like this. The part of this that really struck me was the description of how the best-selling novelist worked with her editor on this particular project. It was intense, more so than I experienced when working with book editors. I read things like this, and I think that maybe I'm fine with not publishing another book. I don't know that I want to go through something like that. Thank goodness for that agent rejection I just got, yeah?

Transgender soldiers date back to the Civil War  by Petula Dvorak in The Washington Post. When I was a tween and teen reader, I loved reading about women who disguised themselves as soldiers so they could fight in the Civil War. I knew nothing about transgender issues. Didn't know they existed.

Why Simon & Schuster’s Flagship Imprint Won’t Require Blurbs Anymore by Sean Manning at Publishers Weekly. I hate book blurbs. As I've said here many times.

What Fruit We Bear by Megan Baxter in Sequestrum. This is so good it makes me feel, Yes, I must read short stories.

The Many Ways YA Books & The Community Isolates Teens at Vicky Who Reads: A YA Book Blog.  I don't know how I stumbled upon this five-year-old post, but I 100 percent agree.

How Midlife Became a Crisis by Matthew Redmon in Wise & Well. This is a wow. I will never think about middle age as that boring old cliche again.

Humor

Three-Year-Old Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs  by Angus Duffin in Slackjaw. Because I love Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

I’m Your Young Adult Child and I Have Twenty Acceptable Reasons for Not Putting My Stuff in the Dishwasher  by Stacey Curran in Frazzled.  I love teen voice lists. 

How I, A Stay-at-Home Mom, Actually Wind Down in the Evening When My Husband Comes Home by Alexis Tai in Frazzled. Notice the line about asking the father to babysit. It's not babysitting if it's your own freaking kid!

A Series of Announcements From the Robertson Elementary PTA Spring Gala Committee Encouraging You to Please Support the Students Despite the Ongoing Apocalypse by Saba Khonsari in Frazzled. As a general rule, I don't care for apocalyptic books and movies, but I love apocalyptic humor.

God Attempts To Write A Novel In Seven Days by Rachel Reys in Slackjaw. You probably don't have to be a writer to get this.