Top Three 2015 Releases

I read more this year than I had in many, many years before it. Even before my kids were born, I was a recreational reader at best, spending a lot more time perusing blogs and rereading the same three or four novels. My word for 2015 was write, and I did, but the one thing I've learned is that writers need to read, and there is a LOT of good stuff out there to get excited about.

So many books touched me this year, but I really want to highlight three that were released in 2015. I mostly read YA written by women, and these three books are no exception. Some books are important to me because they're page-turners, some for their love triangles (I am SUCH a sucker for a good love triangle), and others because something about the plot or structure helps me in my own writing. These three were special on the merit of their stories.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Goodreads summary: Nemeses! Dragons! Science! Symbolism! All these and more await in this brilliantly subversive, sharply irreverent epic from Noelle Stevenson...Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies at the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics aren't the heroes everyone thinks they are.

There is SO MUCH GOOD in this graphic novel. I immediately identified with Nimona because she's a chick in a comic with hips and thighs and a belly on her. I was never interested in cosplay before I read this book. The way Nimona looks features exactly zero into this story, which is also refreshing. (She's actually a shapeshifter, so she can look any way she wants. She mostly turns into animals.) Then I started warming to the nuanced relationship between the "evil" Balister Blackheart and the "hero" Sir Goldenloin (YUP) and then I just realized that I was head over heels for all of it, all the relationships and the mishmash of science and magic and Nimona herself, an unsexualized, bloodthirsty, adorable female protagonist with thrills and flaws and humor. (Bonus points: the creator, Noelle Stevenson, is the best on Twitter (@gingerhazing). I cried reading her thoughts of seeing girls in The Force Awakens)

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Goodreads summary: Simon Snow is the worst chosen one who’s ever been chosen. That’s what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he’s probably right. Half the time, Simon can’t even make his wand work, and the other half, he sets something on fire. His mentor’s avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there’s a magic-eating monster running around wearing Simon’s face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here—it’s their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon’s infuriating nemesis didn’t even bother to show up. Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story—but far, far more monsters.

I was waiting for this one. This was my year of Rainbow Rowell- I read Fangirl around this time last year and went bananas. Early in 2015 I flew through Landline and Attachments, started following Rowell on Twitter, and realized what Carry On truly was: a novel featuring the characters and plot that were the basis of all the fanfiction in Fangirl. It's a departure for Rowell, with all the fantasy and magic, but she weaves it into a modern society with this world building that I really enjoyed, and of course, the characters are what makes it worth loving. Penelope Bunce is my opposite and I admire her hardcore and she might be my favorite book girl I met this year. This is the only book I've read twice in 2015, and I know I'll be reading it again soon.

Lair of Dreams (& The Diviners) by Libba Bray

Goodreads summary: In this heart-stopping sequel to The Diviners, Printz Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Libba Bray takes readers deeper into the mystical underbelly of New York City. (I'm only sharing the last paragraph because this is a sequel and I sincerely suggest you read The Diviners before diving into Lair of Dreams.)

Libba Bray was the YA keynote speaker at the Boston Book Festival this year, and I heard her speak before I had ever read any of her books. She was hilarious (Talking about her process: "I don't outline. I had fourteen outlines for Lair of Dreams. The thirteenth was called 'Help Me Baby Jesus.' The fourteenth was called 'Jesus Can't Help You.'") and engaging, and when I got home I started reading the first in her most recent series, The Diviners. The book is meticulous and sprawling, set in the 1920s with a large and diverse cast of characters. The background is researched to death (in the best possible way) and the details flesh out a world that you basically inhabit while reading the book. I particularly liked the slang. Sam calling everyone "doll" kind of did me in. Add in a hit of magical mysticism and I was hooked. Like, stop at the bookstore on the way home to pick up Book Two hooked. Lair of Dreams continues with the same characters you come to love and has the same loving attention to detail as the first, with a disconcerting echo of some of the scary social issues we're dealing with today. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

There were other books that stuck with me this year that didn't make the list because they weren't published in 2015 OR had some major problems but I loved them anyway: Evil Librarian, When You Reach Me, The Awesome, The Darkest Part of the Forest. You can see all the details on my Goodreads year-end round up here. 

Here are some other year-end book lists to spark your interest: book punks, 100 damn good books of 2015, new york times notable children's books, the mother of all lists (this is a HUGE list of OTHER top book lists, so get some coffee and have at it)

What was your favorite book you read this year? More importantly, anything you have your eye on for 2016? I'm ready to fill up my TBR pile. Here we go.

Super Quick Reading Update and Book Club Pick

Hey ladies and lovelies. It's been way too long. My brain is bursting with all these fabulous things I want to share with you- great articles and compelling interviews with ladies breaking stereotypes and all the nerdy things I want for my birthday. I turn 30 in a few days and I cannot wait to be into the next decade of this awesome life.

At this exact moment, however, I've just restarted school and I am flat out exhausted trying to figure out how to teach 22 first graders, get home and do some laundry/potty train the 2-year-old/validate the 3-year-old/watch a damn episode of Doctor Who, then organize myself and my family to get up and do it again the next day.  I love routines, and we're pulling ourselves, hand over fist, into a new one for this particular autumn of our lives. I have more desire than time.

Here are some things that make me monstrous when I skip them: exercise, chugging water, and reading. None of these can be sacrificed, I am learning the hard way. I've gone on enough about the importance of the first two (Bi-yearly PSA for Ashlie: YOUR OCCASIONAL DEPRESSIVE EPISODE IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO DROPPING EXERCISE AND/OR WATER CONSUMPTION IN THE NAME OF BEING TOO BUSY) but I wanted to stop in and tell you about what I've been reading, and invite you to do a little reading with me.

Right now I'm reading a total mishmash of things. The third installment of the Peculiar novels, Library of Souls, is a perfect October creepy read, even if I'm having a difficult time getting into it. I have a feeling I'll like it more once I can devote a solid hour to it. I've been waiting for Julie Murphy's Dumplin FOREVER- "self-proclaimed fat girl" and the fact that it starts with a gorgeous ex-jock coworker falling for her both sold me. I'm also carrying around Generation Why, volume 2 of Ms. Marvel, mainly admiring the cover until I have time to let myself read it front to back, which is exactly how I enjoyed the first volume. Thanks to a kinder-than-necessary friend, I have Mindy Kaling's latest, Why Not Me, which is an awesome title and also maybe a new mantra?  And I am waiting, waiting, waiting for Carry On by Rainbow Rowell, which is released on my birthday, and if that's not fate than NOTHING IS!

We skipped Be Your Own Book Club in September, because by the time I thought I had picked something and was ready to write about it, the month was nearly over. Many of you who actively participate are also teachers, and I thought we could all use a little break. However, now that it's October, I want to get a little creepy. And Neil Gaiman is the perfect author to get us there. I struggled a little on which way to go with a Gaiman pick. He is incredibly prolific, publishing comic books, children's books, YA novels, horror, comedy, and more. I want to read Coraline, and may, in October, but our pick this month is The Ocean at the End of the Lane. My aunt suggested it, and the reviews used words like haunting, dark,  and  brilliant. It seems very quotable, too, which is always a plus.

SO there we have it. Some great books that are definitely worth checking out, and a slightly creepy, perfectly seasonal read to restart Be Your Own Book Club. Are you going to read along with us? Any other good ghostly books?  Let me know, sweet tarts! Happy reading!

This is where I've been

I'm blasting these stats everywhere because I'm so damn proud:

50,000 words written in November

25,000 words written in April

103,000 words written overall (not counting scenes I've cut or the first two chapters that I already rewrote)

I have WORK to do.  Tons of editing.  A particular character who acts differently in EVERY SINGLE SCENE because I haven't nailed him down. And like...an ending to write.

But I've been working on this project for six months now that is seriously rad.

I need a little break from this material.  I have some articles for Be Your Own Lady that need to come to light- not in the least a write up of my Ladies Conference and a May book club pick (APRIL IS OVER WE MISSED IT I'M SORRY) and a backlog of good links for you.  I also might need to rewrite some of the fanfiction that I recently found.  My 14-year-old self peppered with too many Mary Sues and inflated vocabulary words, and I'm curious how it would come out if I wrote it today.  Only one way to tell.

Ladies, a reminder.  Find what makes you shine and dull it down for no one! Never stop shouting from the rooftops how good it feels to throw yourself into something you love.  Goodnight, lovelies. 

"I want it all- and I would like it delivered." -Bette Midler

I'm home today with the boys.  Elliott has strep throat and hasn't been to school since Tuesday.  His antibiotics are finally kicking in, but daycare is closed for a family death, so both boys are rocking it with me.  It's been awhile since we've been settled into our comfortable routines, with my grandfather's funeral last week and the germy rebellion taking place over the last few days.  We're in that part of our lives where a few off days can hit hard hard hard.  I'm a little grumpy about it. 

Life right now is not pretty or balanced or predictable.  Things I eagerly anticipate (like seeing my whole family in one place last weekend) can be screwed up by things I never would have imagined (like drastically overestimating the boys' ability to hang/sleep in hotel beds/sit through a funeral/not puke constantly/let Ben and I enjoy the company of each other or anyone else for the entire weekend).  Some meaningless errands end up being so fun and I enjoy my family so much, and then the next second we all can't stand each other for the length of a Disney movie.  There is lots of hiding in the bathroom.

I'm finding solace in lots of solitary, nerdly pursuits. I've been reading my brain out and writing less than I'd like.  I'm stalling a little in my novel, and I think some of it is that I need a reader who can help me wade through the mess.  There's too much story now (350+ pages) to make an easy job of it, and finding someone who will take me in hand and be harsh when I need it is not simple.  I may start putting pieces up here, just to get some feedback and be motivated to keep going.  If nothing comes of this, I'm going to name my next kid after the main character.  I think Hazen is a cool name.  And I do want to find out what happens to her. 

I'm realizing (again or for the first time, I'm not sure) that this is not my life.  Not teaching first grade, or always doing daycare pick up, or having my weekends completely free.  This is a season.  This is our current situation.  Nothing all that huge will have to happen for a shift to come.  It just will.  Different things will click and pop and shudder and then the routine will be different for a few months and stuff might change again. 

I felt it today, being at Target on a Friday morning, chatting with other comfy-clad moms.  I feel it when my sister FaceTimes me in her glamorous work makeup, making passing statements about clients, or eating dinner at 8pm.  I do love my uniforms and my routines, but its scary to think of being stuck here forever. I find it weirdly comforting that in the shitty moments, (which are, when put in perspective, just fine) I can count on the fact that this might all be different in a year.  It mostly certainly will be different in five.  I have a lot more things I get to be before I'm done.

So that's a quick check in, as banal as it's possible to be, but I still appreciate, when I look back later, hearing myself talk out loud.  Seeing patterns (you're sad in the winter, dear) and realizing that most of my problems are petty and I'm blessed as hell.  Hashtag blessed.  Lucky.

(image credit here)