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What's up Wednesday



Sorry I skipped last week's What's Up Wednesday! I was busier than usual. Here's what I'm up to:
What I'm reading

 I am in nerd flip-out mode over William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope. It's like someone took my two biggest nerd-loves and combined them. Also, it works really well. Star Wars starts off with a Prologue and text falling across a screen. This book starts off with "PROLOGUE. Enter Chorus. It is a period of civil war..."
I also finished Needful Things, which was boring and did not live up to expectations. I read Girl Parts as well, and am still figuring out what I think about it before I write a review. On one hand, I like that the second half of the book is all about Rose learning how to take sexual agency for herself (rather than for others). 

 On the other hand, it seems like yet another book that says, "You need to have sex to be a whole person." This book was described as "hilarious" on the jacket cover. I thought it was very grim -- cringe-worthy grim. I guess if you find teen suicide and sexual exploitation and harassment hilarious, cool. I won't deny that it definitely has its funny parts, but if you come away from Girl Parts laughing and saying, "That was so hilarious!!!" then you've probably missed the point.

 What I'm writing

 I'm in the middle of the mother of all re-writes right now. I thought that I'd rewritten a lot during my first round of edits...haha. HAHA. HAHAHAHA.

 I've also written reviews of After the Snow, The Reformed Vampire Support Group, and Partials. Examining has been a neat experience, but the truth is that I don't write enough articles and reviews often enough to make a lot of money at it. I don't really mind. I like doing the reviews.

 On the blogging side, I also wrote a post Monday following the #solidarityisforwhitewomen twitter-splosion. It doesn't have many comments, so I'd be interested in hearing what others think about the white-washing that happens on book covers.

 What else I've been up to

 Painting the house. Petting the cat. Playing Oblivion like crazy. Cleaning my room -- I'm finally unpacking everything from college -- and moving my bookshelf. I have this lofted bed with a desk underneath. I moved the bookshelf so that I can actually pull out the chair from the desk and sit down.

 What inspires me right now

 The awesome cover art for Throne of Glass. Well, for my edition. All previous editions I've seen have a glamorous girl with flowing golden hair and fake brilliant blue contact lenses with a knife strapped to her arm, throwing the camera a coy look over her shoulder and looking flirty. I would never in a million years guess that that book was about an assassin. This cover, on the other hand:

I saw that and was all, "FUCKYEAH!" It reminds me of the anime-inspired art style one of my friends uses. Also, she just looks badass. She stares at the viewer boldly while advancing, rather than throwing coy looks over her shoulder. True to the book, artistic, enticing, and it looks dangerous. I haven't actually read it, but if it turns out not to be as awesome as the cover I will be VERY disappointed.

I've had a bee in my bonnet about book covers lately. Maybe I should do another post. 

Comments

  1. Jennifer PickrellWed Aug 14, 03:58:00 PM CDT

    I know what you mean about cover art, so much of it is mega generic. I saw this article the other day that showed pics of all these covers with recycled stock photos. Some didn't even have alterations, they were straight up the SAME photos.

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    Replies
    1. LauraWed Aug 14, 04:43:00 PM CDT

      I remember reading all these great books when I was younger, and they always had something fun, interesting, and relevant to the book on the cover. Today I notice that Middle Grade books still have the fun cover art, while YA books have pictures of young, attractive people on them. Kind of insulting if you think about what that implies for what YA readers and teens are interested in.

      Delete
  2. UnknownWed Aug 14, 04:27:00 PM CDT

    Verily, A New Hope sounds like a very fun and interesting read. I don't know if I love Shakespeare or Star Wars enough to enjoy it as much as some, though. Good luck with your rewrites! I'm going to be starting on that this week...

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    Replies
    1. LauraWed Aug 14, 07:46:00 PM CDT

      It's really fun to read out loud dramatically.

      Delete
  3. AlyssaWed Aug 14, 05:44:00 PM CDT

    Ooh I've seen the other cover for Throne of Glass and I always found it kind of annoying... this version definitely knocks it out of the park!!

    You should definitely do a post on cover art. It's fun finding really awesome covers, because unfortunately they are rare. :P

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    Replies
    1. LauraWed Aug 14, 07:48:00 PM CDT

      Yes...not only unoriginal, but obnoxious. Yet another insanely glamorous person. I am not glamorous myself so how can I relate? Or rather, is reading the book supposed to make me look glamorous? :P Meh, I don't object to the glamour aspect so much as I do to the boring-ness of the image. Not intriguing at all.

      I think I will do a cover art post.

      Delete
  4. amyWed Aug 14, 06:38:00 PM CDT

    I read Girl Parts a couple of months ago, I really enjoyed it. That cover of Throne of Glass is awesome. I loved the book. Have a great weekend!

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    Replies
    1. LauraWed Aug 14, 07:49:00 PM CDT

      Girl Parts was a really smart and daring book. The ending made me go, "Is that it???" but there was a hint that all hope was not lost...perhaps there will be a sequel.

      I look forward to reading Throne of Glass. Thanks for stopping by! :)

      Delete
  5. Carrie-AnneWed Aug 14, 08:37:00 PM CDT

    I share your feelings about current cover art. So much of it is so generic anymore, with the same 5 or so subjects over and over again—the almost-kiss, the headless or partial body character, some girl in a big poufy dress, a generic cover model, a model who looks dead. If I were traditionally published, I'd never okay a cover like that, particularly the generic model or headless person.

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    Replies
    1. LauraThu Aug 15, 10:38:00 AM CDT

      Haha, my favorite is the poufy dress girl. "I shall fight crime -- in my prom dress!!!"

      Delete
  6. Jaime MorrowThu Aug 15, 10:14:00 AM CDT

    I love the cover art on this copy of THRONE OF GLASS. I bought my copy when it came out from the UK, so it had this cover instead of the real person model cover. I'm so happy they've opted to go with that badass style for the North American covers from here on in. Love it! I hear you on the rewrite thing. Takes FOREVER! Have a great week, Laura. :-)

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    Replies
    1. LauraThu Aug 15, 10:37:00 AM CDT

      Funny -- that's the third book I've looked at where the UK version looks so much cooler and more interesting. (The others being Girl of Fire and Thorns and The Fury Trilogy.) I actually had the UK version of Fury and was excited to get the (very pretty) sequel, Envy...when the US switched covers. Now my books don't match and it annoys me, haha.

      Thanks, you too! :)

      Delete

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