Where Does The Time Go?

Hi, folks. So, it seems we've gone yet another month with little to no action on Simply Nerdy. I'm so sorry! I'm feeling a bit like more of a failure each and every day.

For some reason, I just can never find the time to sit down and write a review--or, gasp, the time to even pick up a book. And the problem with writing book reviews is that one must read books before they can formulate opinions, and without reading books one cannot write book reviews. Very problematic, you see. I'm hoping things will get back on track soon, but it seems we have reached another temporary hiatus.

If only writing book reviews were as simple as writing bits like this!

With my deepest apologies and incredible embarrassment,

Leah from SIMPLY NERDY BOOK REVIEWS

Interview with Ned Vizzini, author of The Other Normals

Ned Vizzini began writing for New York Press at the age of fifteen. At seventeen he was asked to write a piece for The New York Times Magazine, which led to the publication of Teen Angst? Naaah... , a memoir of his years at Stuyvesant High School. He is also the author of It's Kind of A Funny Story and Be More Chill. 

Q: Thanks so much for joining us today, Ned. Let's get some of those typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first become interested in writing? 

A: I discovered New York Press in the mid-90s in Manhattan. It was this incredible free newspaper that was distributed in boxes on the street. Before blogs, these “alternative newspapers” were the way you got your off-kilter news and opinions. And New York Press had amazing writers like Jim Knipfel and Amy Sohn and Jonathan Ames and Matt Taibbi and Tom Gogola and Sam Sifton and John Strausbaugh. And I just ate it up. I wanted to write for them so I sent them an essay and they printed it and paid me $100. I was hooked.

Q: Your first novel, Teen Angst? Naaah . . ., was published only a year after you graduated from high school, an awe-worthy feat in the eyes of teen-writers around the world. What advice do you have for other teens interested in writing?

A: Remember that there are people out there who are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to figure out what you like. Trend forecasters. Marketing analysts. They have meetings to try and figure out how to sell you clothes and soap. And here you are, an actual teenager with the capacity to write – do you realize how valuable you are?

Q: What are the greatest challenges for you when it comes to writing? 

A: The greatest looming challenge is always the same: not being able to write well.

Q: Though any avid reader's answer to this question is constantly changing, I just need to ask: Who is your favorite author and what is it that really strikes you about their work?

A: My favorite author is Michael Crichton. I come back to his books every few years. It's pure pleasure. When I was 12 I started reading Jurassic Park in the bathroom and I got so into it that my legs fell asleep and my dad was beating on the bathroom door – “What are you doing in there?” – and I tried to get off the toilet but I collapsed on the floor because both legs were asleep and the book skidded across the room and I thought, What power!

I used that story in The Other Normals; I just made  the book role-playing game manual instead of Jurassic Park.

Q: One of my favorite things to ask authors about is the environment in which they write. What sort of atmosphere do you write best in? (Pen and paper? Laptop? Quiet room? Mood music? Dog at your feet? Cat on the desk?)

A: If you want to write, it's important not to have specialized requirements. That's like being a panda as opposed to a rat. It's better to be able to eat everything than to only eat young bamboo. That said, I like my Sony Vaio laptop. I like OpenOffice. And if there's a lot of noise I need to drown out, I like Psychologically Ultimate Seashore.

Q: Who is one person that has supported you the most outside of your family? 

A: I have to thank two people: my editor Alessandra Balzer and my agent Jay Mandel. I have the kind of relationship with both that I don't think writers are supposed to have anymore – we have worked together for 10 years, through company moves and huge life changes. Both have helped me refine my work by asking the right questions.

Q: I recently saw that you wrote for season two of MTV's Teen Wolf, and are currently writing for ABC's Last Resort. How is writing for a television program different than writing a novel? Has it changed or developed your writing in anyway?

A: Writing for a TV show is very different from writing a book. Instead of sitting at your computer, you sit in a big room with other writers and talk out story ideas. (This is called “breaking story.”) THEN, once the story is agreed on, if it's your turn to write a script, you sit at your computer .

TV writing has helped me identify cliffhangers and chapter endings for my books. Every TV scene needs to end well, in a way that propels the viewer to the next scene. Once you write enough of them you get a natural feel for how to make a not-that-exciting end of a chapter into a page-turner.

Q:  What is an odd fact about yourself that's usually a surprise to people? 

A: I don't like Dr. Who. None of it. Not at all.

Q: And last, but certainly not least, tell us about your new novel, The Other Normals. Where did you get your inspiration for it? You aren't a secret role-playing addict, are you?

A: The Other Normals is about a 15-year-old role-playing addict who falls into an actual fantasy world and has to put his knowledge to the test against real monsters.

And yes, I am a secret gaming addict – or I was. My drug of choice was Magic cards, which I wrote about for New York Press when I was a teenager. I played them until I turned 30. I can't tell you how many times I threw them all away and bought new ones – just like a real addict!

The inspiration for The Other Normals came from these sorts of games. I think the reason we get addicted to things like Magic cards, or Yu-Gi-Oh, or World of Warcraft, or Tumblr, is because it's a little world that we can control and manipulate and understand – but at some point we have to leave that world to grow up.

Wow, I sure didn't expect that one. Thanks so much for stopping by, Ned! Don't forget to check out The Other Normals here.

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The Goddess Legacy (Goddess Test, #2.5) by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Test series, although a series I have yet to review, is one of my favorites. If you've read my reviews before, you know I have a weakness for books involving mythology or the Greek gods. This is no exception. 

In this collection of stories, Aimee Carter tells the untold tales of some of the main characters in the series: the Greek gods. During the first two Goddess Test novels, Kate Winters is groomed to take the place of Persephone, both as the queen of the Underworld, and as the wife of Hades (Henry).  In The Goddess Legacy, the stories of Aphrodite, Hermes, Persephone, Hera, and Hades are told by none other than the gods themselves.

I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this novel. A book about the Greek gods told by the Greek gods? There's nothing like it. Having already read the other novels in this series, it was also very interesting to see the gods further developed.

The writing was great, as always, but I think where this book wins is in it's creativity. It sticks, for the most part, to the myths that we've all studied in school, but it gives life to the gods themselves. They all have distinct personalities, voices, and weaknesses. 

For those of you who have read the first and second novels in Carter's series, you definitely won't be disappointed by this one. It gives a decent amount of background into the lives of the gods and goddesses and--spoiler--into the motives behind Calliope/Hera's actions. 

My advice to readers who are unsure about this series: read this book first. I know, I know, it's technically not the right order, but it's a great way to get into these novels. It's more of a prequel than anything else. If you're studying mythology at school this year, read this book. It doesn't get everything right, but maybe you won't be as bored in your English class. It's a fun, interesting take on stories that have been around for thousands of years. 

Grade: A+

To buy this book . . . 
Amazon.com 
Barnes & Noble 

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Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday was started by Jill at Breaking the Spine for bloggers and readers to get excited about upcoming books.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater:

Maggie Stiefvater rocks. If you've read her Wolves of Mercy Falls series, you understand. In her newest novel, The Raven Boys, due to head into our nearest book stores and into our hands on September 18th, "the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before." (Well, at least according to Goodreads.)

Excitement Factor: 8/10

Hidden (Firelight, #3) by Sophie Jordan

Oooohhhhh, dear. If you've read the first two in the series (Firelight can be found here), you know why the 'oooohhhhh'. If you're new to the game, let me give it to you straight: these books rock. They are the only books I have read about dragons (Well, that's a fib. I did read Eragon. The difference is: I didn't like Eragon. I tend to not count it.), and they are the only books I plan on reading in the future about dragons. The thing is, dragons can be cool . . . when you work them the right way. Sophie Jordan knows how to work them. Hidden was released into stores yesterday.   

Excitement Factor: 9/10

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The Wedding Cake Girl by Anne Pfeffer

Seventeen year old Alexandra is an expert diver and a big dreamer--oh, and a cake-maker on the side. She hopes to study oceanography and leave her birthplace, a small island called Santa Rita. But her mother won't allow it; she's needy and dependent and can't run the cake shop on her own. Throw some cute boys in the mix, and you have Pfeffer's The Wedding Cake Girl.

I was pretty disappointed by this one, especially after loving Pfeffer's other novel, Loving Emily. The writing was mediocre, the characters were lackluster, and the plot was slow. Around halfway through it began to pick up speed, but never enough to really take off.

The best part is probably the scenery; the small island of Santa Rita is really based off of Catalina Island, and is described relatively well. The concept of scuba diving is appealing, and Alex's adventures are admirable. The boys are decent, but the romance is underwhelming.

Overall, not one to look out for. If you're a huge fan of Pfeffer's, maybe you'll enjoy it, but I don't reccomend it.

Grade: C

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It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

For Craig Gilner, getting accepted into the prestigious Executive Pre-Professional High School in Manhattan isn't what he hoped it would be. Instead, it's too much. It doesn't take too long for Craig to realize that he is far from the best--in fact, he is mediocre. This realization crushes not only his ego; soon, he can't sleep. He can't eat. He is, it turns out, depressed. 

A late-night decision to commit suicide results in a call to the nearest suicide hotline--and, eventually, at the hospital down the block, where Craig checks himself into the psychiatric ward. When it turns out that the teen's floor is closed for renovations, he's put on the floor with the adults, where the true adventure begins. 

This is the first novel of Ned Vizzini's that I've read, and I enjoyed the ride. The voice is great and memorable, although sometimes childish--but the best part has to be the collection of strange and eclectic characters thrown into the mix. From Craig himself to Noelle, a girl who cut her own face with scissors, to the other patients in the psychiatric ward; I honestly don't think the characters could have been better. 

Development was pretty thorough; there were no loops or holes, and the novel was definitely well-written. There was a good balance of comedy and irony and depression, although maybe, when thinking of the novel's topic, it was lacking a serious undertone that stories like this, I feel, have the need for. The main thing I disliked was the flow of the story, and the romance was somewhat awkward and unfinished-feeling. I had brief flashbacks of Suicide Notes and Paper Towns, so pick up Funny Story if you're a fan of either of those. 

Unfortunately, the book I picked up before this one was The Perks of Being A Wallflower, so of course Funny Story was a bit of a let-down after that one. The ending wasn't my favorite, some aspects were a bit lacking, but overall Vizzini delivers.

Grade: B

To buy this book . . .
On Amazon.com
From Barnes & Noble

Don't forget to stop by later this month for my interview with Ned Vizzini himself! 

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The Perks of Being A Wallflower - The Movie

I had the great opportunity of attending an early showing of the new Perks movie this past Thursday, August 30th, and we had the pleasant surprise of the fantastic Stephen Chbosky (not only the author of Perks the novel, but also the writer and director of Perks the movie) showing up for a Q&A after the film.

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to speak about the film, exactly, but I will say that it was absolutely amazing and that as a die-hard fan of the novel, I can promise all other Perks lovers that you will not be disappointed. Honestly, I adored it. I laughed. I cried. Basically, it rocked.

Anyway, after a nice Q&A with the audience and a film studies professor from ASU, Stephen Chbosky ran out that door; to attend a Rocky Horror Picture Show festival. I know, right?

To buy the book: Amazon
To find out more about the film: IMDB

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What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor

  
Jake Hayes and his family of eight live on a small island off the coast of Washington state, population 5,000. Jake has been in love with the same girl for the last four years, but he's never had the guts to tell her. And when he gets into a car accident after a party involving alcohol, he never will. Not when his vocal cords have been ripped out, and he'll never be able to speak again.

Taylor's novel deals with a very serious subject, one that I wasn't expecting to resound with such depth and poignancy. Jake's loss, all because of a stupid decision to get into a car with his drunk friends, is terrifying. He's lost his ability to speak. He'll never be able to tell a girl he loves her. Of course, this is relatable; almost everyone, I'd think, has regrets about things they didn't say but wish they had. But Jake's pain is all-consuming. His frustration and struggles ring true.

Jake is thoroughly developed as a character. He has a strong voice and, through his trials, his character shows three-dimensionality that makes him incredibly real to the reader. Life as he knows it is, essentially, over. His dream of joining the Airforce? Destroyed. His hobby of flying? Gone. His social life? Over. His difficulties are real. They jump off the page. Samantha, the girl Jake loves, is moderately likeable; well-developed but not in the way that Jake is, which is understandable. When it is revealed that Sam is having some problems of her own, though, that pain is there, too. 

This story, through and through, is a powerful one. 

Keary Taylor definitely achieves what I believe she hoped to--to create a fictional story, a fictional world, that has words of truth. These things happen. There are people like Jake out there. Taylor herself, she reveals in an added author's note, is one of these people. As a high school student, she had gone deaf in one of her ears. Her life changed. She struggled. She overcame. 

Grade: A+

Buy this book . . .

On Amazon.com

From Barnes & Noble

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It's Official

So, it's official. We're back.

Upcoming posts include my reviews of It's Kind of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini, What I Didn't Say by Keary Taylor, The Goddess Legacy by Aimee Carter, and many, many more. We also have an interview with Ned Vizzini scheduled for later this month, information on the new Perks of Being A Wallflower movie, new weekly In My Mailboxes, with posts up at least every other day.

Thanks so much for sticking with me. Send any questions, comments, or book recommendations my way.

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