Tag: books

writing

Thank you!

Elodie

Before I start with this week´s “YA Highway blog carnival”, a little *Happy Dance* for Peggy Eddleman who just got a two-book deal with Random House Congrats again! (other people´s good news bring a huge grin on my face so I had to share…)

Ok now on to Road Trip Wednesday… Road Trip Wednesday is a “Blog Carnival,” where YA Highway’s contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. 

This week’s topic

What writing or publishing-related thing(s) are you most thankful for?

Stories. I am most thankful for the sad, happy, funny, emotional, dramatic, mysterious, scary stories I get to read. The ones that make me try to conceal my tears or my laughter in the train as other commuters wonder what may have trigger such reactions. The ones which helped me passed entire afternoons with a book in my hand as a child or teenager and enabled me to discover new worlds, different views. The ones that made me dream, escape, forget about time (or about my bed time – my husband keeps on telling me to just put the book down :-))…

And for the ones I now try to put myself on paper because they bring up all these emotions as well and because I hope that I, too, can bring this little twinkle in the readers´ eyes…

People. I am so very grateful for all the people supporting me in this process, especially my husband, my family, one of my best friends who takes time out of her busy schedule to read/comment when I have doubts and all the ones taking the time to read, to cheer me on, to share their experience (and YOU are part of it)

What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

writing

Required reading…

Elodie

Yeahhhh, it´s Wednesday again…my second post for YA Highway Road Trip Wednesday does not make me a pro yet but I´m getting there one week at a time 🙂 This week’s topic: In high school, teens are made to read the classics – Shakespeare, Hawthorne, Bronte, Dickens – but there are a lot of books out there never taught in schools. So if you had the power to change school curriculums, which books would you be sure high school students were required to read?

My first thought was “Wow! So many books to choose from!” My eyes were shining and my fingers were itching to type away…until my second thought stopped me cold “Wow, so many books to choose from…”, my heart started beating faster, my fingers could not find their way to the keyboard…

This is indeed quite an important task. A reading list is not just about reading, it’s about learning, developing critical and social skills (yes I went as far as saying social skills) and to find out more about oneself.

I started to think about the novels on the curriculum in High School for me …more than 12 years ago and I found myself clearly remembering the one I disliked the most: Confessions of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a clear hint for the poll on where I am from which you can find here :-))

I hated it, I hated the fact he was trying to find excuses for his mistakes (society was at fault). And then, it hit me. Yes I hated it but I had feelings towards it, I remember passionate discussions in class or with friends over a cup of coffee. It did fulfil its goals but it was more painful than with the ones I had true passion towards. This is what high school students should read: books they either love or hate but which get them talking and coming back for more.

So how about the reading list I would choose?  I wish students everywhere could discover the joys of classics which open up the mind so there would be some of those (including my favourites: Victor Hugo, Albert Camus, Shakespeare, Homer, Arthur Miller).

Now trying to limit myself to just a very few including some not conventional 🙂

Anne Frank Diary (this one is a must I think)

 Hate List – Jennifer Brown, Go AskAlice- Beatrice Sparks, Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson, Gone with the wind – , The Notebook – Nicholas Sparks

High school students should be encouraged to discover other worlds and themselves through literature, not only how the word itself is constructed…

What would be YOUR list?

Observations, writing

Week 43: Reading, reading, reading…

Elodie

“The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest men of the past centuries.”

Descartes

Commuting means that I have time to read; even if I am standing up I usually have a book in my hand… I have an eclectic taste: I read thrillers, historical novels or biographies (currently devouring everything related to 16th and 17th century France), classics, romantic novels, war novels, YA…I am thinking of writing reviews once a month on this blog on top of my regular posts.

My husband is getting desperate (is there a show called Desperate Husbands? Could be a nice spin-off…note to self: need to stop my mind from wandering while I type)

I usually go through at least 3 books a week. My sister did let him know that I always loved reading. I did immerse myself in Victor Hugo when I was about 7 or 8. As a teenager, I could happily just lay in bed on a rainy afternoon with a novel in front of me (ok sometimes even when it was not raining…I am such a dork)…My husband, on the other hand, mainly reads technical books or biographies and he does not have much time to turn the pages so he does not understand why I buy myself so many books. I am starting to hear regularly “Where are you going to put them?” “Do not dare moving my helicopter!” and does use threats such as “if you don’t (insert verb), I will throw all your books away…”

I thought about buying a kindle but am not ready to give up the feeling of pages turning via my fingers, the weight of the book next to me when I fall asleep dreaming about what I have just read.

I love when I cannot put a book down because I just want to know what happens. As an aspiring writer, this is what I would like for my readership, to be able to take them away for a few hours to a different place, a different time…I even get that funny feeling when I fall in love with a book, one that I know I will re-read in the future because the words have touched me in more ways than one.

Some day, one day…maybe somebody will ponder about my stories…

Happy reading to all!