Well, I'm at home sick and bored out of my mind. So I guess I'll post again. A couple days ago, Audra gave a totally awesome book project on Twilight vs. Harry Potter, and this inspired me. Leave comments and tell me what you think:

Which is better - the Twilight Saga or the Harry Potter Series, and why?





I'll post my own response to this in a couple of days.

"I am a galley slave to pen and ink. " -- Honore de Balzac

Hey, everybody, welcome to my first official blog post. :) Anyone who knows me knows that I want to be a writer, so here's a blog for anyone interested in writing, literature, and doesn't care much about being called a nerd. I'll update as often as I can with everything from book recommendations, to bits of advice, to author Q&A's that I tracked down and really liked. If there's anything you'd particularly like to see, just leave a comment and I'll get to it ASAP.

For my first little topic, I'd like to recommend a book. Pictured to the right, it's called 3 Willows: The Sisterhood Grows and it's written by Ann Brashares. A spin-off of her #1 New York Times Bestseller The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, I finished this book in one sitting. It's a beautifully written coming-of-age novel that centers around three best friends and the summer they share before high school. Following a similar vein as Travelling Pants, the three girls have been friends since childhood, but find themselves growing apart as they struggle to shake their childhood in exchange for excitement. Polly is sick of being branded immature and tries to pursue a career in modeling; academic Ama, much to her disgust, is sent to a wilderness camp in Wyoming; and popularity-obsessed Jo deals with a new boyfriend and backstabbing group of teenagers at the beach. Sentimental, gutsy, and sometimes pretty hilarious, this is one book I would DEFINITELY recommend. (Though, it should be said, that I would only recommend it to girls. Not much of a guy book.)

Brashares is a fantastic storyteller, with two great assets to her writing. One that you'll notice off the bat is how easy her writing is. She moves seamlessly from topic to topic, and even though her books discuss a lot of interal problems and don't have a lot of action, the writing is smooth. There is not a boring moment.

My favorite aspect of Brashares writing, however, is how realistic it is. Her characters are flawed -- they're simultaneously insecure, self-centered, and cocky. Happy endings don't come easily, and they always come at all. Brashares depiction of relationships is accurate in their rockiness. I especially love her depiction of familial relationships. Jo, for instance, learns that cutting your parents some slack is important. Problems don't stop when you reach a certain age. They deal with difficulties, too. However, like Polly, she also learned that sometimes you're going to have to be the adult in the situation. Brashares keeps it realistic and intelligent, without getting preachy.

I'm not usually a fan of sentimental books, and if you think this will be another cheesey, Lifetime-worthy sob story, then I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Pick up a copy of 3 Willows. You won't be disappointed.

Intro...

Well, I've wanted a blog for ages and now that I finally have one, I realize I have no idea what to do with it. So this is going to be pretty random. I'm pretty opinionated and have a habit of going on for ages about crud other people don't care about (books, politics...) but all the same, I hope you like reading this. If there's anything you'd particularly like to see me discuss, comment and I'll see what I can do. :)