Funday Monday! T-Rex is my spirit guide

This is my favorite Dinosaur Comic of all time. I read it for the first time over two years ago and the last panel still pops into my head and sends me into spontaneous giggle fits. It references pretty much everything in the world that makes me laugh. If you don't think this is at least a little funny, I'm afraid we just can't be friends.

As always, this is the genesis of Funday Mondays.

While we're sharing hilarious videos

First Inaugural Funday Monday

So I've been thinking of weekly features to help me get into a better blogging rhythm and I figured a Funday Monday was in order. Most people do fun Fridays, but I think it's important to keep Monday light to start of the week with a bounce. To that end:



And yes fellow nerds, I am extending the sincerest form of flattery to Day 9 by starting this up.

Recommended Reading: Wicked Lovely

So I know I'm totally late in boarding the Melissa Marr train, but wow is she a crazy amazing writer. I was 100% glued to this book from start to finish. It's the first time I've ever read about fairies without rolling my eyes every few pages since I was like eleven.

Not that I dislike fairies. I'm very into folklore. The novels surrounding them just always seem obnoxiously overdone with regard to either dialogue or world-building or both. I usually can't read the story without hearing the author screaming "DON'T FORGET FAIRIES ARE SUPER BADASS AND DIFFERENT FROM AND MOSTLY BETTER THAN US!"

After reading Marr's take on the subject, I'm quite sure I'm going to have to give fairy stories another shot. Especially the sequels in this particular series. Here is the synopsis of Wicked Lovely from Melissa Marr's website:

Rule #3: Don't stare at invisible faeries.
Aislinn has always seen faeries. Powerful and dangerous, they walk hidden in mortal world. Aislinn fears their cruelty—especially if they learn of her Sight—and wishes she were as blind to their presence as other teens.

Rule #2: Don't speak to invisible faeries.
Now faeries are stalking her. One of them, Keenan, who is equal parts terrifying and alluring, is trying to talk to her, asking questions Aislinn is afraid to answer.

Rule #1: Don't ever attract their attention.
But it's too late. Keenan is the Summer King who has sought his queen for nine centuries. Without her, summer itself will perish. He is determined that Aislinn will become the Summer Queen at any cost—regardless of her plans or desires.

Suddenly none of the rules that have kept Aislinn safe are working anymore, and everything is on the line: her freedom; her best friend, Seth; her life; everything

I know, right? Intriguing. As far as trigger warning goes, there is a spot very near the beginning where Aislinn refers to a heavy guy but for me it's more description than judgment. I'll allow that it's extremely possible I'm just making excuses because the book is such a good read otherwise though.

Beyond that, it's smooth sailing as far as I noticed. In particular, if you're looking for a good illustration of a dude behaving like an evolved person instead of a baboon with regard to the development of a sexual relationship, this book is for you.

Note on Recommended Readings

Hey Y'all,

So I know that as of now Recommended Readings is looking pretty white and hetero-centric as well as mostly sticking to Contemporary. I'm planning to change that soon, but for right now I'm having to read books that are similar to my own first novel so that I will have comp titles for when I begin querying in earnest (fingers crossed by the end of this month). Unfortunately, this time around I'm not venturing too far from home in those regards with the exception of a small LGBT subplot.

However, I've just started work on an historical F/F interracial romance novella with fantasy elements (that sounds snarky, but I swear it's 100% true). The story came to me organically, and it's practically jumping onto the page and I couldn't be more excited.

Also, I've recently finished Melissa Marr's first book in the Wicked Lovely series and it definitely makes the list I just have to post about it. I also have a fantasy trilogy lined up to read that I have a lot of faith in, and as soon as the query train starts I can start to branch out even more. So don't give up on me early readers. I'm aware of the homogeny so far, but I truly aim to fix it.

Recommended Reading: The Thing about Georgie

The Thing About Georgie, by Lisa Graff, is actually a kids book and not really geared toward young adults. The protagonist is only eight years old and the specific problems he faces are typical young children. However, I'm including it here for three reasons.
     1) The writing is exceptional. It's engaging from the first page to the last page and I strongly feel that any age reader would get something out of it.

     2) Georgie is a little person. Not only are dwarf protagonists few and far between, but the way in which a person's feelings about their body impacts the way they experience the world around them is prominently featured in this book.

     3) The generalities of Georgie's problems, (stage fright, interpersonal conflict, infatuation) are problems that are common to teenagers, and indeed all of us.

From Lisa Graff's website:

The thing about poodles is that Georgie hates to walk them.


The thing about Jeanie the Meanie is that she would rather write on her shoe than help Georgie with their Abraham Lincoln project.


The thing about Georgie's mom is that she's having a baby—a baby who will probably be taller than Georgie very, very soon.


And the thing about Georgie . . . well, what is the thing about Georgie?

I first found this book on the same list as Accidents of Nature and Saffy's Angel. Another thing I enjoyed was that a number of the families that figure into the plot are non-traditional and even the secondary characters are fully developed. I can't think of any parts that would be particularly triggering for anyone. It's just a nice, light, interesting read.

Recommended Reading is a recurring feature on this blog. I'm doing this in an effort to build a list of YA books that I believe are both great stories and treat people's bodies in a sensitive manner. I will do my best to point out things about books I suggest that might be triggering even if I feel the book as a whole is worthwhile. If you have suggestions for future recommended books or comments/criticisms of books I write about please feel free to leave them in comments.

Dear handful of appreciated readers,

I have not abandoned you, I've just been hella busy. Also, I've been reading my little(ish) tail off and have found only one more book that is marginally appropriate for the recommended reading list. I hope to post on it shortly, but it's about an 8-year-old so it isn't really a YA book. I just think the subject matter is such that anyone would find it an interesting read and it does deal with what it's like to have a body that doesn't quite fit a socially constructed ideal.

I've read a couple of books now that I had high hopes for because they had protagonists with different body shapes, but I've been let down by the way that the authors have the characters "overcome" their bodies rather than embrace them. I've also been disappointed by the fact that even after these characters evolve, they persist in making snarky comments about the bodies of others as though this is an acceptable way to behave.

It isn't.

This stuff hurts all of us, and I won't present it like a sympathetic role-modelish character should get a free pass for furthering the system just because they have a body that looks like mine. I'll admit that when I was a teen who was completely unaware of fat acceptance or body politics in general I would've loved these books. I was that desperate to see someone I could relate to in contemporary literature. But I can't even give them the Courtney Summers treatment and make them unofficial recommended reading while listing the caveats. They're cute books with cute stories. They aren't heartbreakingly beautiful prose.

However, the book I'm currently reading is a brilliantly written YA fantasy that--100 pages in--totally fits Recommended Reading criteria so I'm very excited. Hooray Books!