Tag Archives: books

James Riley’s ‘Once Upon the End’ Is Now in Bookstores (and on Kindles)

Posted in Books, Children's Literature, My Life in General by

If you live on the West Coast and heard a delighted bookwormy shriek, you heard my daughter as her pre-ordered copy of Once Upon the End appeared on our Kindle.

That fangirl scream you heard? That was Sofia when she saw her ore-ordered Once Upon a Time appear on the Kindle. #nosleepforthegirl #jamesriley #onceupontheend #halfuponatime #finally #books #bookworms

(The above photo is a little blurry because she was trying to get the Kindle while I was Instagramming the book cover.)

The final installment of James Riley’s Half Upon a Time series, Once Upon the End, hits the bookstores today. The story of punk princess May’s search for her true identity while accompanied by the helpful yet awkward yet brave Jack and the almost-perfect-in-every-way Philip left us with a massive (and heart-wrenching) cliffhanger at the end of Twice Upon a Time (How COULD you, James?!) but now, questions will finally be… uhm… answered.

My daughter’s reading the novel as I write this and then I’ll get the Kindle, so no reviews are planned for today. However, Half Upon a Time fans may enjoy this interview with James Riley that he graciously gave us when Twice Upon a Time was released. (My daughter and niece’s love for Riley’s work grew exponentially when they found that he’s awfully kind to his readers… when he’s not torturing them with cliffhangers.)

Happy reading!

Three Amazing Book Trailers for Three Astonishing Children’s Books [Videos]

Posted in Art, Book Reviews, Books, Children's Literature, Illustration, Illustrator by

I’ve loved children’s literature far past the point of being a child, but, as C.S. Lewis, advises, I don’t feel apologetic for it. In his essay, “On Stories,” he cs-lewiswrites…

“It is usual to speak in a playfully apologetic tone about one’s adult enjoyment of what are called ‘children’s books’. I think the convention a silly one. No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty—except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all. A mature palate will probably not much care for creme de menthe: but it ought still to enjoy bread and butter and honey.

That said, I’ve recently immersed myself into two children’s lit series, The Wildwood Chronicles, and The Mysterious Benedict Society books. In taking notes for upcoming reviews of the books, I saw the following book trailers and had to share them.

Book trailers are advertisements for the books… a literary take on the movie trailer. So, I didn’t preface the book trailer with an explanation of the book—that’s what the trailer is for.

Wildwood

What astonished me about the Wildwood book trailer is Carson Ellis’s illustrative work. I deeply admire her illustrative work and, in this series, I marvel as much over her illustrations as I do over Colin Meloy’s writing (which leaves me breathless).

Here’s a look at the book trailer for one of my favorite reads of the past few years.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

After reading the brilliant Wildwood and its sequel, Under Wildwood (which is lovely but has a cliffhanger of an ending that made me grit my teeth), I was in search of another series I could love. Colin Meloy’s writing raised the bar ridiculously high, though.

Bookshop clerk: Are you looking for something specific, ma’am?

Me:I just finished reading the most amazing book… And you know, when you’ve finished an extraordinary book and you just fell in love with it so deeply that you think you’re spoiled for other books forever? Yet, you think, ‘I want that again.’ I want to feel that way about a book again. You hope another book can make you feel that way again…

Bookshop clerk: Oh, yes. I know exactly how that feels. What book did you read?

Me: Wildwood.

Bookshop clerk: (sighing) Ohhhh, that book is a work of art. That book IS art. (long pause) I don’t know what else to recommend after that…. (a long, long pause) Perhaps… Some people who read Wildwood also read The Mysterious Benedict Society. It’s not Wildwood at all. Nothing related. But the writing is very, very good. Maybe try it?

And so, I did. I’m still reading the series, but the first one just captured my attention and imagination. I immediately loved the quirkiness and the blend of joy and longing in the book. The bookshop girl was right—the writing is just captivating.

I also loved the illustrations in the first novel, which were Carson Ellis’s. The remaining books have a different illustrator, but they are also beautiful. Here’s the trailer for a book in the series.

The Series of Unfortunate Events

Unlike the descriptive beauty of the other two books on this list, Lemony Snicket‘s The Series of Unfortunate Events is dark, depressing and, if you’re the right sort of reader, hilarious.

People either love him or hate him. There’s no middle ground. Either you’re the type of person who finds dark humor to be, well, humorous, or you find the books uncomfortable and nasty. In our household, two of us find the series to be absolutely hilariously tragic (or tragically hilarious?), and two others find the whole series to truly be an unfortunate series.

The trailer, Scream and Run Away, is not illustrative like the previous trailers on this list, but musical instead. Lemony writes music, and, as you’d imagine, dark music.

I find the song to be a clever book trailer and also a scream. (It’s all right if you don’t.)

Here’s Lemony’s book trailer.

Have you seen any unusual, fun, or beautiful children’s book trailers lately? Do mention them in the comments. I’d love to check them out.

William Shakespeare in Statistics [Infographic]

Posted in Art, Books, Infographics, Literature by

Inspired by a recent PBS series about Shakespeare and my daughter’s current assigned reading (The Tempest), I thought I’d share this fun infographic by the folks at No Sweat Shakespeare.

Enjoy!


View the full image at NoSweatShakespeare’s Shakespeare facts & statistics infographic

If ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Took Place in 2013 [Doodle]

Posted in Art, Creativity, Doodle, Drawing, Drawings by

My daughter and I love all things Pride and Prejudice—the BBC long version (our favorite), the Matthew MacFadyen version, the soundtrack, the novel, etc.

Last night, during our  23,432,029th viewing of ”Pride and Prejudice” (the BBC version), I said, “I love those letters they write to each other. Love them, though, you know, it does take AGES to get any news. A cell phone would’ve helped.”

My 12-year-old daughter replied, “Yeah, and it would’ve been so much easier to find Lydia. You know she would’ve done a hundred selfies on Instagram. ‘Here I am with Wickie at our honeymoon resort.’ ‘Wickie and I in London!’”

We started laughing so hard as she imitated what that would look like. Then, between giggles, she said, “I need to make that into a cartoon.”

So, with her permission, I am posting the wonderful cartoon she drew. (She never lets me post her cartoons—and she has oodles of them!)

If Pride and Prejudice Was In 2013_1

8 Mini Portraits of Famous Writers to Use as Note Cards [Illustration]

Posted in Art, Books, Creativity, Drawings, Illustration, Illustrator by

Imagine receiving a little note or valentine from Edgar Allan Poe, Flannery O’Connor, Jane Austen, or Daphne DuMaurier. What would it say?

For fun, I created a series of mini illustrations of some of my favorite authors and gave them a fun twist of Valentine verse based on their famous work. (For example, Edgar Allan Poe’s valentine says, “Be still my tell-tale heart!”)

printable literary valentines for your favorite bookworm

printable literary valentines for your favorite bookworm

The literary mini note cards are now available in my Etsy shop for just $5. (For a little more than a latte, you get an original, whimsical piece of art. Sounds good!) Here’s a peek at what the mini note cards look like. Note: The watermark doesn’t appear on the PDF I send you.

The set features:

  • Edgar Allan Poe (“The Tell-Tale Heart”)
  • Flannery O’Connor (“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”)
  • E.B. White (“Charlotte’s Web”)
  • Jane Austen (“Pride and Prejudice”)
  • George Orwell (“1984″)
  • Charlotte Bronte (“Jane Eyre”)
  • Ernest Hemingway (“A Farewell to Arms”)
  • Daphne DuMaurier (“Rebecca”)

For just $5, you get this PDF to make as many personal copies as you wish. Print them out on card stock to use them for Valentine’s Day, note cards, gift tags, etc.

The Love of an Avid Reader [An Illustration of a Jane Austen Quote]

Posted in Art, Authors, Books, Creativity, Drawings, My Life in General by

When my good friend Reed and I were about to graduate from college, he often mourned the fact that, once out of college, we’d find ourselves talking less and less about books with other people. Though neither of us were English majors, we were voracious readers and felt a little alone in our book love sometimes.

Fortunately, that fear was dispelled quickly.

In writing for a living, I know more bookworms than TVworms (I just made up that word because if bookworms burrow in books, TV-worms burrow in TV shows). People who love books seem to be around me… from my circle of girlfriends who swap books about education and history to the book-quoting bartenders at our writing group’s favorite wine bar to bookwormy kids who share their lives with me. I feel like more and more folks are reading, whether in paperback form, their mobile screens, or e-readers.

But is my perception correct?

I read Pew Internet Research’s recent report about Young Americans Reading and Library Habits to find out. The center wanted to take a “special look at readers between the ages of 16 and 29 because interest in them is especially high in the library world and the publishing world… It flows out of a larger effort to assess the reading habits of all Americans ages 16 and older as e-books changed the reading landscape and borrowing services of libraries.” You can read the entire report on the Pew Internet & American Life project page.

Though I am older than the cut-off date of 29, I’ve observed a definite trend of bookworminess among my children and their friends. They read books in paperback, electronic, and even hardback forms.

And as far as my personal library goes, it spreads its literary goodness from my well-stocked Kindle to my shelves of used books to the coffee table laden with freshly printed books.

To quote Lemony Snicket:

A good library will never be too neat, or too dusty, because somebody will always be in it, taking books off the shelves and staying up late reading them.

Exactly, Mr. Snicket.

Doodled Review: ‘Wildwood’ Novel by Author Colin Meloy [Illustration]

Posted in Art, Books, Creativity, Drawings, Illustration, Illustrator, My Life in General by

To help me deal with the hours-long plane ride to Boston and back, I grabbed a copy of Colin Meloy’s Wildwood novel. The beautifully illustrated novel cover (by Carson Ellis) had caught my attention, so I plucked the children’s book from the shelf, opened it, and gave it the “quick skim test.” I skim a few pages to get a feel for the writer’s style and see if it’ll appeal to me. Meloy‘s sentences were so lyrical that I bought Wildwood immediately.

As I sat in a cramped tiny seat on a stuffy airplane, I escaped into the world of Wildwood and truly forgot my less-than-enjoyable surroundings. I read half of the novel on the flight to Boston and saved the rest for the flight back home. (I would’ve read the book in Boston, but the B2B Forum made extra reading time utterly impossible.)

Inspired by the whimsical and spirited book (and its incredible color plates), I decided to draw a book review rather than do a straight-up book review.  Here you are… (Click the image to enlarge it.)

(Click the image to enlarge it.)

Reading on the Subway: Photographs from the Underground New York Public Library

Posted in Art, Creativity, Photography by

Art is all around us… and it’s far more interesting, colorful, and nuanced than glossy photographs of celebrities. For Moroccan photographer and artist Ourit Ben-Haïm, art can be found at subway stations.

She captures images of commuters reading on subways or in subway stations. “I’m an artist and a storyteller,” she said in a Fast Company interview.  “The NYC subway provides a constant metaphorical suggestion of the relationship between our stories and our journey.”

Photo credit: Ourit Ben-Haïm

She takes photographs during her subway rounds and posts them at The Underground New York Public Library (UNYPL) Why does she do this? “I’m fascinated by how we apply ourselves to stories and discourse. In so doing, we shape who we understand ourselves to be.”

Photo credit: Ourit Ben-Haïm

What I love about this project (oh, there’s so much!) is how colorful and textured all the photographs are. People look like people. They are not airbrushed or perfectly coiffed or even matched well. And all those facts make the photographs intriguing. You see people as people, who they are, just readers along a journey to their destination.

Her photographs reminded me of when I lived near New York City and frequently visited friends there. What always fascinated me was the variety of people I’d see in New York. The palette had so many more colors than my own day-to-day life.

How brilliant of Ourit Ben-Haïm to capture the fascination we have people-watching… and to add the extra curiosity of the choice of people’s books. As you look at the photographs, you wonder, “What are they reading? Why? I wonder who recommended the books to them. Are they enjoying it?” A bookworm and writer could get lost for hours in thought while visiting the UNYPL.

You can read more about her project at this Fast Company article or just visit the UNYPL website. (Block off some time, if you do!)

If You Give Children’s Author James Riley a Book Review…

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, My Life in General by

You happily end up with James Riley sending you an email about the post.

Which makes you think it can’t possibly be James Riley.

Which leads to you writing a succinct letter along the lines of “Oh, yeah? Right-o. Prove it, mister.”

Which he does.

Which means that the alleged James Riley emailing you is indeed James Riley.

Which makes you think maybe you should have been nicer in the first email.

Which he doesn’t hold against you because he’s amiable.

Which is fortunate because your daughter would never forgive you for ticking off James Riley.

Which encourages another email.

Which results in your daughter and her best friend receiving the best surprise in the mailbox ever (at least, if we’re judging by the sound barrrier being broken by screams)…

Which contains autographed copies of James Riley’s Half Upon a Time and Twice Upon a Time.

(And she totally peeked at the dedication on her bestie’s book, too. I know. Total squealer mom. Team Phillip indeed, Mr. James Riley.)

Which ends up in her increased screaming of joy.

Which led her to calling her best friend… and more shouts of happiness and some hyperventilation on the part of the best friend.

Which had the girls just even more eager to talk all things Half Upon a Time and Twice Upon a Time-ish.

Which made the best friends spend most of their girl-talk time drawing Team Jack tee-shirts and discussing the “clues” that James Riley wrote in their books.

Which ends up in an increasingly rambunctious (yes, that’s the right word to describe it) conversation.

Which makes the other mothers in the playgroup look at you quizzically.

Which ends up in a long explanation from you about the books, James Riley, and the wonders of social media.

Which surprises them. (The affability of James Riley, I mean. That surprised them. They don’t care about social media. Sigh.)

Which inspires some mothers to write down the name of the books, so they can go to Amazon later and buy them. (Word-of-mouth marketing at its finest, I tell ya.)

Which makes you send James Riley another email.

Which will be another post in a few days…

 

James Riley’s Children’s Books, Fangirls and How Loved Books Inspire Conversation

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Books, My Life in General, Writing by

James Riley, author of “Twice Upon a Time”

My eleven-year-old daughter is a voracious reader and writer, always carrying a book in her backpack or a writing notebook in her purse.

And because she reads so many books, she is not deeply passionate about all of them. The girl is a discerning reader. Pride and Prejudice? Definitely a favorite! The Chronicles of Narnia? Two thumbs up! Black Beauty? Snoozeville…

So, when my daughter loves a story, she loves it with her whole heart—just like all bookworms do. The characters become part of her world, her extended family.

The newest members of this family are Jack, May, and Phillip, from James Riley’s Half Upon a Time and Twice Upon a Time books. They have stepped off the pages and into my daughter’s life. She loves Jack’s sense of humor and quotes him often. She finds May to be someone that she’d love to befriend. And my daughter even has a soft spot for Phillip, who is perfect and princely—and a good person, one who merits respect.

The Books: Half Upon a Time and Twice Upon a Time

To call the books part of a fairy-tale series is limiting. The series is more like the perfect merging of fairy tales and boys’ adventure books: playful, hilarious, melancholic, action-packed, and mysterious.

At the heart of the novel are May, Jack, and Phillip—all on an adventure to find out the truth about May’s family and help May discover who she really is. Feisty and sarcastic, May pursues the truth bravely because she needs to know her story. Jack is reluctant for an adventure, but his feelings for May push him beyond his comfort zone. And practically perfect Phillip is uber-fairy-tale prince, so he naturally desires adventure.

(If you want James’s own description, then here you have it. Who better to describe James Riley’s books than James Riley himself?)

The Fangirls

My daughter read the first book, Half Upon a Time in October. The story of a boy training to be a knight who suddenly has a girl (wearing a “Punk Princess” shirt no less) fall out of the sky (literally, like really literally, not fake literally as people literally say) grabbed my daughter’s attention from the get-go. The girl, May, wasn’t a dreamy-eyed wimpy girl. Even after needing to be rescued, May determined her own course and plan to rescue someone else and find out more about her family.

With its captivating blend of humor, action, adventure, and homages to fairy tales, the book caught my daughter’s heart… (and mine, too).

The wait for the sequel felt interminable. My daughter had a countdown on her bedroom door. She would double-, triple- and quadruple-check Amazon to make sure James Riley wasn’t going to sneak in a copy early for true fans.

When Twice Upon a Time came out on April 24, we downloaded it to my Kindle Fire as soon as it was available (meaning: dawn).

The second book picks up on May’s journey to discover where she comes from, who she really is… and begins to explore more deeply the new questions regarding Jack. A page-turner, Twice Upon a Time is packed with action, hilarity, and moments of melancholy.

The last scene is sweet, sad… brutal. It lingers in the memory. And you just want to get your hands on the third novel now.

Just Tweeting (and Commenting) to Say We Dig You

After reading the book, I decided to reach out to James Riley via Twitter and let him know how much we enjoyed the book.

I tweeted…

And to my surprise, he wrote back.

After I told my daughter about this exchange, she let out a squeal at the realization that she could actually talk directly to the author. “I’m leaving a comment on his blog! I’m going to tell him exactly how we feel about his book.”

“All right,” I said, watching her fire up the computer and massage her fingers. (Apparently, it was to be a long comment.)

“Do you think he’ll answer us? Do you think he’ll comment right back?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe. If you’re reaching out to an author, it should be to let them know that you’re thankful for their work. It’s to show how much you love the book, how much it means to you,” I reminded her. “That’s the heart of it. If they answer you back, that’s lovely. If not, that’s all right, too. OK?”

And so, my daughter and her friend wrote this comment to James Riley.

And you know what? James Riley wrote back.

You never heard such squeals from girls. Not weird “I just saw Jason Bateman at the mall!” squealing that I did as a kid, but a delighted, happy-to-be-talking-to-someone-they-deeply-admire sort of squealing.

The Hours of Conversation

If I thought the conversations about the books were burning up the phone lines, I had no idea how much fodder this short comment by James Riley would be. “What do you think he meant by ‘as far as Jack knows’?”

Still, I love listening to the girls talk about books, heroes, heroines, how to handle difficulties, how to decipher meaning, etc. How refreshing and delightful to see two girls love a book series this much.

The books were even on their mind as we spent a lovely day at the park…

Thanks, James Riley, for writing such riveting, energetic, and entertaining books for children. And thanks, too, for making the time to answer their comment!