Category Archives: books

NaNoWriMo pushes writers to write novel in one month

Behind every television show, movie, or book I enjoy and then obsess over each week in this space, you will find an intense creative process, embarked on by a writer with a vision and a pen (or a typewriter or a MacBook). As someone with academic degrees in writing and a love for fiction, I’ve always fantasized about creating my very own novel. I have made a few feeble attempts in the past, littered with false starts, discarded drafts, and even one manuscript that made it all the way to chapter 3 before the flash drive was misplaced, likely never to be seen again.

But this month, I’ve had a good excuse to throw myself wholeheartedly into a brand new attempt at achieving my dream.

Writing a 50,000-word novel in a month is a daunting task, yet that is precisely what you commit to when you sign up for National Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo is a non-profit organization that, according to its mission statement, “organizes events where children and adults find the inspiration, encouragement, and structure they need to achieve their creative potential. Our programs are web-enabled challenges with vibrant real-world components, designed to foster self-expression while building community on local and global levels.”

Of the many programs NaNoWriMo offers, one of the most popular takes place every November, when writers the world over sign up with the goal of drafting a 50,000-word novel by 11:59 p.m. on November 30. I had never participated in NaNoWriMo, though I know several people who have done it multiple times. About two hours before the calendar turned over to November this year, I decided on impulse to make the plunge. I had no outline, no concept — I didn’t even know who my characters would be — but I decided to give it a shot. If I were ever going to write a novel, I might as well start now.

I spent a large portion of Day 1 cleaning my room and organizing my computer, making sure I had a comfortable place to work. By the time I finally sat down to write, I still wasn’t sure what I would be writing about, but I thought I knew who I would be writing about. There’s a character that had been floating around in my head for a couple years. I didn’t know her story yet, but I knew she wanted it told. By the end of that day I had written over 1,200 words. Not bad considering I hadn’t had a clue what I was going to write about when the day began.

The NaNoWriMo goal is to write at least 1,667 words per day in order to reach 50,000 by the end of the month. I set my goal at trying to reach at least 2,000 per day, knowing that most novels tend to average much more than 50,000 words (especially if you happen to have the middle initials R.R.).

Throughout the first week, I was pretty successful at attaining my goal word count. By the end of Day 7, I had over 14,000. It was rather exhilarating for me to look at that word count and know that I had created all that. My master’s thesis had been over 27,000 words, but a large percentage of that was research-based, not entirely creative writing. So 14,000 words on a creative writing project was a big deal for me, and that was just the beginning.

I’m usually the type of person who likes to have a plan for everything and, in the past, that was my approach to creative writing as well. I would formulate an outline in my head of what I wanted the story to look like — sometimes more detailed than others — and then attempt to write to the outline. As you can tell from my earlier confession of never finishing anything I’ve started, I wasn’t ever very successful that way.

Since I had signed up for NaNoWriMo without any planning, I decided my entire novel would be written that way. I’ve rarely sketched out what I’m going to write more than a day ahead — and, most of the time, I don’t know where it’s going when I sit down. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve discovered that outlining may not be all it’s cracked up to be. I’m more than halfway toward the 50,000-word goal and I still don’t know from day to day what twists and turns it’s going to take. Writing this novel has been like an archaeological expedition — I don’t know where the story is going, or how it’s going to end.

I have always had this lingering doubt in the back of my mind that I would never actually be able to write an entire novel because, while I might come up with good broad strokes for a novel, I wouldn’t be any good writing the smaller details and the less action-oriented scenes. I’ve never thought I would be very good at coming up with pages of dialogue or crafting realistic conversations between characters, but I’m doing it. EachÂ day I sit at my computer with no idea what’s going to happen next, and I slowly uncover my characters’ next moves. Sure, it’s just a rough draft, and I guarantee it’s not National Book Award material, but I’m having fun discovering my characters and proving to myself that I can do this.

Some days I can average 1,000 words per hour and other days I stare at my computer screen for what seems like hours and only get 600 words written. It hasn’t always been easy, and there are some days when I just can’t figure out what my characters are going to do next. But I keep persevering because this goal is one worth achieving.

As of this writing, my novel is at just over 33,000 words, I just started chapter 14. This is officially the most I’ve ever written on one project, and while I’ve slowed down a little, I am not even close to giving up, which is the biggest accomplishment I’ve made so far. While I’m a little behind in my goal, I’m still within sight of finishing the 50,000 words by November 30, and that will be a huge accomplishment.

If I’ve learned anything this month, it’s that I can surprise myself with how much of a Big Thing I can do if I set my mind to it and really commit. I’m so glad I took the leap and signed up for this. While I haven’t done much other than work, sleep, and write this month, at least by the end of it, I’ll have succeeded in my goal of writing a novel, and that means a lot this girl who has dreamed of being a writer her entire life.

Maybe this novel — or a subsequent one, when I’ve honed my skills a bit — will inspire another fangirl like me.

French experiments in The Secret Place, but still succeeds

Entertainment-seekers on this side of the Atlantic Ocean tend to demand a standoff, a car chase, or some other dangerous and potentially violent incident to satisfy our American desire for drama. Irish and British consumers seem to have a more nuanced understanding of drama and suspense, allowing their artists to create compelling works of fiction that don’t rely on pyrotechnics and explosions to hold the readers’ attention.

Irish author Tana French consistently uses this more understated approach to great effect. In The Secret Place, the fifth installment in French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” novels, the author demonstrates her knack for creating suspense in subtle ways.

Like the rest of her novels, The Secret Place can be read as a standalone, though readers would benefit from the groundwork laid in earlier books in the series.

Read Curiata.com’s review of Broken Harbor, French’s previous entry in the series.

The primary narrator of The Secret Place is detective Stephen Moran, who was first introduced to readers in French’s third novel, Faithful Place. Other returning characters include detective Frank Mackey, who is making his third significant appearance in the series, as well as Mackey’s daughter, Holly, who debuted alongside Moran in Faithful Place.

The Secret Place begins with Holly Mackey bringing Moran, who is now working cold cases, a clue to a year-old unsolved murder that took place at Holly’s boarding school: a photograph of murder victim Chris Harper with the words “I know who killed him” taped over it. The photo was pinned to a board known as the “Secret Place,” where students at the school could anonymously confess secrets. Moran, along with the lead detective of the case, Atoinette Conway, head back to the school to follow up on the lead Holly has given them.

Unlike most of French’s lead characters, Moran doesn’t have a tortured past to draw from. Still, he is clearly a flawed character. Moran has never been able to create a close connection with a friend. He is also trying to prove himself worthy of joining the Murder Squad.

Conway also has something to prove; as the only female member of the Murder Squad, she has struggled with the fine line between proving her competence and fitting in. The boarding school murder has been her highest profile case, and it has gone unsolved for a year. The dynamic between Moran and Conway as they learn to work together creates an interesting contrast with the cliques among the girls they interact with at the boarding school.

French has a unique and often beautiful style of writing. She is able to make even the most mundane details seem fascinating and relevant. The unfolding events of the novel take place over the course of a single day, the bulk of which is spent interviewing witnesses, without much real action. Yet French is able to make every conversation compelling.

French also has a talent for description. Early in the novel, when referring to the impact a photo continues to have on Holly and her friends even after it has been deleted, French writes, “The photo isn’t gone. The faint rank smell of it is still stained onto the air. Becca breathes shallowly, through her mouth, but it greases her tongue.”

Imagery like this is what makes French such an interesting writer and her books so enjoyable to read. She draws the reader in with these vivid descriptions and makes the audience feel like part of the investigation — which also makes it really hard to put the book down.

With The Secret Place, French deviates slightly from the usual structure of her novels. Instead of a single first-person narrator throughout the entire book, The Secret Place alternates between Moran’s narration of events in the present and a third-person narration of the school year leading up to the murder under investigation. Through these flashbacks, the reader gets to know Holly and her friends and learn the story behind the murder just as Moran’s investigation uncovers the details. This technique helps to increase the tension of the novel as the reader gets closer to the truth. It also gives an interesting perspective on the investigation, giving the reader a window into all the characters and motivations involved.

Another way French deviates from her usual style — and the only flaw I can find in this novel — is in a strange suggestion of the existence of the supernatural. Her previous novels have all been strictly grounded in reality, but some of the interactions between Holly and her friends in The Secret Place hint that they have discovered telekinetic abilities. With the rest of this novel being so realistic, that one piece of fantasy seems a little jarring and out of place.

French never addresses whether these special powers are real or if the girls just have overactive imaginations; in fact, the descriptions of the supernatural are presented in such a way that one could argue they never actually occurred. This aspect of the story is minor and doesn’t affect the outcome at all. Because of its seeming insignificance and the unanswered questions it leaves, this plot point feels like the weak link in an otherwise extremely well-written and engaging novel. And if that’s the only flaw, then I would have to deem this novel an overall success in the genre of crime fiction.

If you’re already a fan of French’s writing, you won’t be disappointed with this latest installment, despite the differences in style between this and her earlier novels. And if you’ve never read anything by French but you’re a fan of clever mysteries or British drama, then I can’t recommend this novel — or any of French’s other works — enough.

French has some of the most developed and compelling characters I’ve read in modern fiction; they’re all flawed, but fascinating and so very real. Her plots are also not predictable or formulaic. So put down James Patterson’s thousandth novel and pick up something truly original.

YA readers: Have no shame, hold books high

When it came to writing this week’s column, I realized I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to write about. Summer TV is ending, fall TV is still three weeks away. I’m sure I could write an entire column on my complaints about Doctor Who* or True Blood**, but I’ve talked about the Doctor the last two weeks and Sookie Stackhouse is best soon forgotten. I just didn’t know what would be topical to write about this week.

Then I updated my Goodreads account and realized I’ve read 11 books in the past month — five of those just within the past week. Four were young adult novels (even if only three were classified as such — more on that later). This started me thinking about the debate over adults reading YA novels. I know there are a lot of people who judge adults for reading books ostensibly targeted at teens. And I admit, when I was working as a bookseller, I developed the bad habit of judging everyone for what they were reading — particularly anyone who read James Patterson or nearly anything found in the romance section.

Which will probably make me sound like a hypocrite when I say that I don’t think it’s fair to judge adults who read YA fiction. There is nothing wrong with reading YA fiction. I certainly wouldn’t be caught dead reading a Clique novel or any similar series, but there are a lot of YA novels that I do enjoy, and people have a lot of different reasons for reading YA literature.

Some people choose to read YA novels because they’re just good. Naturally, I’m not talking Twilight here. I recently read Paper Towns by John Green and was really impressed by how well it’s written and how the story could ring true with readers from just about any walk of life. The only other novel I’ve read by Green has been the much more hyped The Fault in Our Stars, but while that too was well written, I think Paper Towns was a much more interesting novel. It has more to do with finding yourself and discovering who you are, which, granted, seems to be a teenage concern on its surface, but everyone can feel a little lost at any point in their lives.

There are many other authors out there aside from Green who publish thoughtful, well-written novels for teens. When I was a teenager, the only novels I remember reading that were targeted for my age range were The Face on the Milk Carton and Whatever Happened to Janie?, both by Caroline B. Cooney. Many of the other novels offered at the time were trivial and seemed like a waste of time. (I do admit to being a big Sweet Valley fan: Twins, High, University — I read everything I could about the Wakefield twins, though I grew out of them earlier than most.) By the time I was 13, I was already reading more John Grisham, Michael Crichton, or Tom Clancy novels than YA fiction. Now, however, there seems to be a lot more variety for teens, and not everything being offered is trivial nonsense.

Some people choose to read YA fiction as a form of research: either they want to write novels themselves or they are either parents or teachers who want to familiarize themselves with what is popular among the age group they interact with. I think this is a very logical reason for reading YA novels. If you interact with teenagers on a regular basis, knowing what they’re reading can give you a look at what kinds of things they are interested in or what motivates them.

Then there’s the fact that, sometimes, you just need a break from reading adult fiction and want the light, trivial nature of YA fiction. I read a wide variety of books, but every once in a while, I want something that doesn’t take much time or effort to read. I love Anna Karenina, but getting through that entire novel was work. Sometimes it’s nice to read a novel that you can finish in less than a day. Even if it’s not the next great American novel, it may still be an enjoyable read.

Besides, adult fiction isn’t always any deeper or more literary than YA fiction. Give me the Twilight books over a novel with Nicole Richie or Snookie‘s name on the cover any day.

I picked up a copy of The Witches of East End last week out of curiosity, since I’ve been watching the television version, and I was surprised by the simplicity of the novel and the lack of plot. This is supposed to be an adult novel. I found it in the teen section, but the jacket proclaims it is Melissa de la Cruz‘s first adult novel. Aside from a few more explicit scenes, there is nothing that sets it apart from any other supernatural romance novel on the YA shelves. (If anyone was at all curious like me, just skip it and pick up Deborah Harkness‘ All Souls trilogy instead; that is a much better series of adult novels concerning witchcraft.)

So I don’t think there is a problem at all with adults reading YA novels. Some stories are timeless and can impact you no matter what your age, and others are just fun reads for when you have a few hours to kill and don’t want anything too dark or deep. I would, however, recommend balancing your YA reading with some adult novels. Variety is good, and it probably isn’t wise for an adult mind to constantly be reading stories from the viewpoint of lovesick/moody 17-year-olds.

However, there is so much literature available these days, in so many various forms, that you should never allow anyone to tell you what you can and cannot read. Reading should be enjoyable no matter what book you choose.

* — What’s up with the Doctor suddenly deviating from his “Nobody dies” mantra by sacrificing one to save the rest in last week’s episode? Seriously, I love Peter Capaldi, but I really am a little concerned about what’s going on there, and why he’s suddenly so much colder than previous Doctors.

** — How bad was that True Blood series finale?? I know it aired a couple weeks ago, but I’m still not over it; it made the controversial finale of How I Met Your Mother look like fan fiction.

Outlander deviates, predictably, to show us skin

Read Curiata.com’s review of the series premiere of Outlander on Starz from last week: Outlander adapts time travel, intrigue to small screen

The second episode of Outlander, the television adaptation of Donna Gabaldon’s book series, aired Saturday on the U.S. premium network Starz. This installment is where conditions in 18th-century Scotland are vividly and accurately detailed. It opens with the arrival of Claire Beauchamp, who has been transported from the mid-20th century, at Castle Leoch. As Claire looks around her, she sees muddy streets, small crofts, animals milling about, people undertaking their primitive avocations in the courtyard, and traditional dress.

Mrs. Fitzgibbons is introduced to us as she bustles from the castle to greet the returning men. This character is cast perfectly. Annette Badland superbly captures Mrs. Fitz’s (as she is known about the castle) iron-fisted ability to manage a castle filled with unruly men, as well as her deep affection for those who are under her care. After her initial surprise of finding a barely-dressed Englishwoman upon her doorstep, Mrs. Fitz envelops Claire under her capable wing.

As Mrs. Fitz undertakes to feed and clothe Claire (“Let’s get you something that’s a bit more … well, more,” she deadpans), Claire resists, saying that the young man she had assisted earlier, Jamie MacTavish, needs tending because of his gunshot wound. Through a short inquiry, Mrs. Fitz learns that Claire is knowledgeable in medicine and knows what to do for an “inflamed wound,” which we would call an infection. Claire’s skill set definitely earns Mrs. Fitz’s respect, as healers and “charmers” are in short supply in a castle containing so many fighting men. Claire, with Jamie in tow, is taken to a room where garlic and witch hazel are provided her to use as a disinfectant. Mrs. Fitz, who also knows her way around an herb garden, brings cherry bark and comfrey to soothe the pain.

For the first time, Claire is alone with Jamie (whom she knows as Mr. MacTavish). As she removes Jamie’s plaid, she sees that his back is covered with scars. He explains that he was flogged by the English, once for escape and once for “obstruction,” which is “whatever the English say it is.” Claire also learns that Captain “Black Jack” Randall, her modern-day husband’s ancestor, is the one responsible for Jamie’s imprisonment and the floggings. Jamie shares stories about the English soldiers’ mistreatment of the Scottish people, describing an incident where Captain Randall presumably sexually assaulted Jamie’s sister, Janet “Jenny” (Laura Donnelly).

It is here that the show comes up short, losing sight of the book that inspired it. In the text, Janet is described as fine-boned and birdlike, which Donnelly capably represents. However, the written Janet is also fierce and defiant, especially toward the English. Unfortunately, none of this is conveyed on screen when Janet is manhandled by Captain Randall. Instead, the viewer is given several minutes of gratuitous nudity that could have been sacrificed for character development elsewhere. A flashback of the scene as it reads in the novel would have been sufficient to convey Randall’s brutality. In the end, Janet is portrayed as passive while the book showcased her strength of character in arguing with Jamie about whether she would or would not go with Randall in order to spare her brother.

Despite these missteps, the scene succeeds in creating a moment between Claire and Jamie. During their relatively intimate exchange, she tending his wounds and he sharing personal stories, Claire begins to think about her husband, Frank. Jamie comforts her as she cries (swoon!), and Claire is aware of an unbidden attraction to this strange man.

Before we know it, Mrs. Fitz is preparing Claire to meet the estate owner “Himself,” Colum Mackenzie (Gary Lewis), Laird of Castle Leoch and brother to Dougal, the battlefield leader whom Claire met earlier. These scenes wonderfully illustrate the standards of appropriate dress in the 18th century versus Claire’s own time in the 1940s. After being relieved of her own clothing (a simple dress and undergarments), Claire is forced into a shift, wool stockings and garters, stays (a corset), panniers, an under petticoat, an over petticoat, a kerchief to cover or enhance the bosom (whichever the case may be), a stomacher, and, finally, a gown.

Claire is escorted to Colum’s office, which features an impressive library and several exotic birds. A letter on the desk is dated “1 November 1743,” so it is now clear to Claire that she has, in fact, passed through time via the standing stone circle in Inverness. When Colum enters the office, Claire is shocked to see that he suffers from a significant deformity of his legs, which makes it difficult for him to walk.

Colum, while polite, prods Claire as to her family origins and how she came to be alone in the Highlands. Claire attempts to answer the questions as her husband Frank, an army spy, instructed her on how to withstand interrogation. (“Keep to the truth as much as possible.”) She requests passage back to Inverness, which Colum promises “with Mr. Petree, Saturday next.” (This plotline is not in the book.)

After her interrogation, Claire goes to a rooftop walkway and observes Dougal playing with a young boy who appears to be his son. This is a gross misunderstanding, as Claire discovers at dinner that night. The boy is not Dougal’s son, but his brother’s. Colum and his wife, Letitia (Aislin McGuckin), as well as the boy himself, are deeply offended by this mistake, and Claire excuses herself from the table, embarrassed. She is unable to make her escape, however, before being liberally plied with wine and further questioned by Colum. It is clear that the consensus in the castle is that Claire is an English spy who poses a threat to them all.

Claire spends much of her free time planning her escape and tending to Jamie’s wounds. Mrs. Fitz gives Claire the job of helping to gather medicinal and edible plants to supplement the castle’s cupboards. While foraging, Claire meets Geillis (pronounced Gay-liss) Duncan. Geillis (played by Lotte Verbeek) herself knows the many uses of herbs and makes it clear that she is very familiar with charms, poisons, and abortifacients. Witchcraft enters the conversation, a label that Geillis barely denies.

The two meet again that night in The Hall, which is a public forum where complaints are brought before Himself, who resolves them. When a young girl is accused by her father of “loose behavior,” Colum approves her punishment of a public lashing. At the last minute, though, young Jamie offers to take the girl’s punishment for her, in the form of being beaten with the fists of a fellow clansman, Angus. This, of course, requires Claire to tend to him once again.

Mrs. Fitz comes to thank Jamie for taking the punishment, and it is revealed that the young girl’s name is Laoghaire (pronounced Leh-heary), and she is Mrs. Fitz’s granddaughter.

Claire announces that she is leaving Leoch and instructs Jamie how to care for his own wounds. As they say their prim good-byes, Laoghaire peeks into the room, clearly wanting to see Jamie. Claire sends him off to her. The next day, as Claire is about to board the carriage that will take her to Inverness, she is summoned by Colum.

Colum shows Claire to the surgery of the Clan’s healers — the last one being Davey Beaton, deceased. He tells her that she will make a fine replacement. She protests and insists that she be allowed to return to Inverness, as promised. The episode ends as Colum tells Claire that she may not leave until he is satisfied that she has revealed her secrets and poses no threat to his Clan.

This second episode shines a light on a central element of the series. It slowly introduces the typical and expected behavior for 18th-century women: docile, obedient, and meek, with no opinions or thoughts of their own. Contrast those qualities with Claire, who is the exact opposite of this standard, drawing much unwanted attention and doing nothing to dispel rumors about her character.

The Outlander television series does well to retain those themes from the books. But the screen adaptation veers more from the books in this episode than it did in the premiere. It remains to be seen how far this deviation will go.

Outlander adapts time travel, intrigue to small screen

After what seems like centuries — but has really only been decades — Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling novel Outlander has finally been adapted for television. Starz will produce a first season of 16 shows, which will cover the entirety of the first book in this now-eight-book series.

Outlander is a time-traveling romance and adventure that throws traditional concepts of a “romance novel” out the window. The first episode, which aired Saturday, introduced viewers to British citizens Claire Beauchamp Randall and her husband Frank, who have just reunited after World War II. Claire had served as a combat nurse and Frank as a spy in the war.

The couple travels to Inverness, Scotland, where they were married seven years before. Frank is researching his family tree and trying to gather information on a specific ancestor, Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall. Claire, bored by hours spent poring over dusty papers, heads to the Scottish countryside to search for medicinal herbs. While searching for a peculiar blue flower, she comes upon a circle of standing stones. She hears a strange sound and approaches the ancient structure to investigate. Reaching out to touch a stone, Claire is knocked unconscious and awakens, confused and disoriented, some time later.

Even though Claire appears to be on the same hill as before, something seems different. She heads down the hill and back to town; however, on the way, she thinks she has stumbled upon the set of an historical drama, as she is in the middle of a firefight between British soldiers and tartan-clad Scotsmen.

Claire runs away and comes to a stream where a soldier is resting. The soldier stands and turns toward her, and Claire believes, for a moment, that she is looking into the face of her own husband, Frank. Frank it is not, and we soon discover that this soldier is none other than “Black Jack” himself, the very ancestor Frank had been researching. As it turns out, “Black Jack” is not the honorable soldier Frank imagined him to be; Jonathan Randall did not get his nickname for nothing, as his character, so unlike Frank’s, is dark and warped.

Claire realizes that she is not on a movie set but cannot believe she has gone back in time. When Randall demands to know who she is, she gives her maiden name, Claire Beauchamp (pronounced “Bee-chem,” in the English fashion). Scantily clad by the standards of the day, unescorted, and alone, Randall presumes Claire is a French spy and a whore. He begins to assault her, both because he wants information and also for his own twisted pleasure.

Just in time, Claire is rescued (albeit roughly) by one of the Scotsmen. The Scotsmen are suspicious of her, as well, and think she could be an English spy. Until their leader discovers her true origin and purpose, though, he will keep her prisoner, although a protected one.

Among the group of Scots, there is a young man with a dislocated shoulder. As such, he cannot manage his horse, and the group must quickly make a getaway. One of the men volunteers to force the lad’s arm back in the socket. Claire, seeing that the wounded man’s arm will be broken, bids them to stop, and she fixes it in short order. This earns her a bit of respect from the group, but does nothing to allay their suspicions.

The group makes their escape with Claire riding with the young man she has just healed. When Claire looks to Inverness, she notices that she doesn’t see any lights. She asks her new companion where Inverness is, and when he tells her she’s looking right at it, she knows she is no longer in the 20^th century.

During their ride, the group approaches an outcropping where Frank told Claire the English of the 18th century would hide in ambush. Claire shares this knowledge with the young man and, sure enough, the British soldiers attack minutes later. The group’s leader, Dougal Mackenzie, demands to know how Claire came by this information and becomes more suspicious about her motives.

Later that night, Claire’s guard falls from his horse, having been injured in the ambush. Claire again comes to the young man’s aid, asking for medical supplies of her time (iodine, merthiolate) and speaking of disinfection and germs. Her references have no meaning to them and the men are further mystified by her crude use of language when she becomes frustrated in her attempts to bandage the wound.

The episode ends with the group’s arrival at Castle Leoch, home to the Clan MacKenzie, and Claire can be sure she is not on a second honeymoon any longer.

So far, the series follows the book relatively closely. There were some editorial embellishments in an attempt, it seems, to make the adaptation a bit more “sexy,” though in my opinion, this is totally unnecessary.

The series is filmed entirely in Scotland, lending the scenery a breath-taking quality. If nothing else, viewers will fall in love with the rugged, albeit wet, landscape.

The producers make use of lighting to draw a distinction between the prosaic, 20th-century life of Claire and Frank as compared to the heart-pounding action of the 18th century. In the more modern-set scenes, the lighting is quite dark. Even those scenes inside houses with electric amenities have a muted, dull feel — think The X-Files. However, the scenes are noticeably brighter when Claire goes back in time. In fact, as soon as Claire awakens after her passage through the stones, the sun is shining. Even the night scenes from the 18th century have a shimmering quality.

The characters are well cast, with Catriona Balfe playing a wonderfully complex version of Claire (though without the voluptuous bosom and amber eyes described in the books). Sam Heughan’s Jamie Fraser, the as-yet-nameless young man who is twice healed by Claire, is swoon-worthy (although I thought he’d be taller!) and conveys Jamie’s strong constitution, quick wit, and sensitive nature with a subtle delivery. Playing both Frank and Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall, Tobias Menzies capably handles Frank’s reserved affection and Black Jack’s barely-concealed villainy.

The second episode of the series airs Saturday at 9 p.m. on Starz. Check back next week for a look at the latest twists and turns from Inverness.

Round out summer with easy-reading presidential history

Reading history books is tough. Even the most voracious readers often find it difficult to dive into a history. History books have a tendency to be overly academic, and even fans of the subject may have a difficult time with these works. What follows is a list of presidential biographies that are mostly easy to read and teach history in a way that is simple to follow. These authors turn their revered subjects into human beings, complete with flaws, problems, and goals.

American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

Andrew Jackson is a pretty controversial president, and Jon Meacham captures perfectly the profound, contradictory nature of the nation’s seventh chief executive. Jackson is credited for expanding the very scope of democracy, yet he ruled with an iron fist, spit in the face of the Supreme Court, and owned slaves. He was a rough, rugged, angry, and vicious man who could also shake hands and behave cordially with the elites of Washington. Jackson is known for forcefully removing the Cherokee from their lands, yet he adopted a native boy as his son. He hated violently, and he loved sincerely.

Meacham displays the contradictions of Jackson’s personality and the drama that defined him by dividing the book into chapters based on each soap-operatic episode of the man’s life. You are able to more easily understand Old Hickory’s nature by learning about his courtship and loss of his wife, Rachel, his feud and friendship with Thomas Hart Benton, the Peggy Eaton affair that led to the resignation of Jackson’s entire cabinet, the fight over the National Bank, and his vicious, personal disputes with John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun.

Meacham’s American Lion is a great read that displays the evolution of a nation through the lens of the life of one controversial man — a man who lived through the American Revolution and died trying to prevent a Civil War.

Lincoln at Gettysburg: The Words That Remade America by Garry Wills

Lincoln at Gettysburg is a much more intellectually challenging book than the rest on this list, but it is an important one to recommend. The book is short but dense, so take your time when reading this work.

Garry Wills sets out to explain the historical, political, philosophical, and even literary context of Abraham Lincoln’s famous speech on a hallowed Pennsylvania battleground. You will learn the influences on Lincoln’s mind, from Daniel Webster to Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as his intentions when making the Address: Lincoln’s goal was to change the purpose of the war, to reclaim the Union’s status as righteous warriors from a Confederacy that was close to gaining help from European powers. And while Lincoln’s short speech was actually right in line with what was expected of him, it achieved a level of notoriety that revolutionized American literature and set the stage for writers like Mark Twain.

Wills makes you think harder about a speech that many Americans know snippets of without understanding the meaning behind the words. The book ties together 100 years of American history in dissecting a single 272-word speech by viewing it from every angle. The reading is demanding but also enlightening and incredibly satisfying.

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard

When concocting a list of the most interesting presidents, few would rank James A. Garfield among the Top 30. But that is almost exclusively due to his short time as the nation’s leader. Candice Millard does a masterful job of explaining the story of Garfield’s presidency and its abrupt end at the hands of an assassin, making it a much more compelling tale than any history class has been able to tell.

Garfield, more than perhaps any other commander in chief, is a victim of boring history classes. To many, he is just a name in a list of 44 presidents. And Millard even highlights this fact to capture the true tragedy of the nation’s second presidential assassination: Garfield just didn’t have enough time to make a real impact. The assassin Charles Guiteau’s pulling of the trigger robbed us of a good man with good intentions who could have gone down in history as one of America’s greats.

This book is not just about Garfield. It is just as much a book about Guiteau and Alexander Graham Bell. They were all men on a mission: Garfield is determined to end the spoils system and the corruption running rampant in the government. Guiteau is on a mission to gain a government post, which he believes he deserves for a single speech in which he praised candidate Garfield — and when he is not awarded the job, he begins a new mission: to end the president’s life. Bell’s mission is to save the life of the president by quickly inventing an early version of the metal detector to track the bullet that came from Guiteau’s gun barrel; Garfield stays alive long enough for Bell to use his invention, but due to the doctor’s arrogance and monarchical control of the situation, Bell is unable to find the bullet.

Garfield’s America was in a state of change, and much like Meacham’s American Lion, Destiny of the Republic displays the country’s tremendous technological advances on display at the end of a presidency: Jackson was the first president to leave office in a train, and Garfield was the first president who could have been saved by modern science, including antisepsis, which was gaining popularity in other countries at the time.

The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller

Much like Millard does with Garfield, Scott Miller makes President William McKinley interesting by framing his life alongside his assassin and the popular figures of the era. Unlike Guiteau, who was driven by madness, McKinley’s assassin, Leon Czolgosz, was driven by philosophy — and very much understood what he was doing by killing the president.

McKinley’s presidency marked many significant changes in America, including the end of non-intervention as U.S. foreign policy, the beginning of the American empire, and the expanse of American trade around the globe — all a result of the Spanish-American War. While the book doesn’t apologize for McKinley’s actions as president, it does explain them in a way that shows McKinley as a conflicted character who honestly believed he was doing what was best for the country and the world.

Czolgosz’s path is fascinating as well, as Miller looks at a man who truly believed in anarchism and set out to bring the world closer to that ideal. In many ways, Miller leads you to better understand Czolgosz and his crusade in an almost sympathetic light: McKinley was the president of the moneyed interests in the time of the robber barons, and his death did lead to the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, who instituted sweeping reforms aimed at helping the middle and working classes. Certainly, killing the president was the wrong course, but Czolgosz’s actions really underscore the growing sentiments of the working class at the time.

1920: The Year of the Six Presidents by David Pietrusza

Want to learn about several presidents all at once? The Year of Six Presidents tells the story of, well, seven presidents. Six of them — Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — competed for the presidency in 1920, and a seventh, William Howard Taft, was awaiting the opportunity to join the Supreme Court.

David Pietrusza takes you on a journey through the lives of all seven men as they rise to greatness and attain their respective presidencies. Along the way, you will learn about the flaws and neuroses of each president, like Harding’s love for women and Teddy Roosevelt’s belief that everybody but him did a poor job as president.

Adding to the intriguing tale are the era’s defining issues, including Prohibition, the League of Nations, and women’s suffrage, with the election of 1920 being the first time in American history that women had the right to vote in all 48 states.

Pietrusza tells of Teddy Roosevelt, who was an early favorite to return to the Executive Mansion but died a year before the election; Wilson, who was suffering after a stroke but, as the incumbent, was certain he would win a precedent-breaking third term; and Hoover, who was riding a wave of popularity following his actions in Belgium during World War I but would not be able to secure his party’s nomination until 1928. Pietrusza tells the tale of 1920’s ultimate victors, the unlikely candidates Warren G. Harding and his running mate and successor Calvin Coolidge, along with their vanquished opponents, Al Smith and his running mate, the future president Franklin D. Roosevelt.

All seven Presidents featured in this book get their stories told, and all seven certainly seem more human when Pietrusza is done.

If you’re looking for some good reads that you’ll find both interesting and educational, check out these five books, read Lincoln’s twice, and see just how incredible — and flawed — these historical demigods really were.

Binging makes TV watching more like reading

Several months ago, I touched on how the way we view television is changing. We are no longer tied to network schedules, and the combination of DVR and online streaming has turned “binge watching” into a full-fledged revolution in media consumption.

Suddenly realize there’s a show you want to start watching, but it’s about to start its fourth season? No problem; chances are you can find every episode of that series somewhere online and catch up before the new season starts. I’ve done that for many shows in the last few years.

But binge watching doesn’t just change the way you consume a certain television series: it creates a whole new experience while you’re watching it. When you watch several installments back to back, you remember all the little details you may have forgotten from one episode to the next if you had waited a full week between them. Binge watching that show then becomes more like reading a book; you can always go on to the next chapter whenever you want.

I’m a big book nerd. I’ll read just about anything I can get my hands on, and I can’t walk out of a bookstore without buying something — even though I already have well over 100 books in my “to-read” pile. With books, I really love the stories and the way they immerse you in another place or time. Binge watching television can have the same effect in a different medium. Settling in on the couch to watch a good series isn’t much different than curling up with a good novel.

When I read a book — especially vividly written fiction — my imagination runs wild. The world of the book becomes real to me. Certain books have more of an effect than others, but each has some sort of impact. The same goes for a really well-written television show. The more you watch, the more it gets in your head, and the characters, along with the world they inhabit, start to feel more and more real.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve found that many of the shows I’ve binge watched are the ones I’ve become more invested in. We formed a bond during those 12 hours spent watching episode after episode. (OK, so 12 hours of television in one sitting is a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture.) In some ways, watching shows like this can almost become an addiction: you plan your day so that you have enough time to squeeze in at least a couple more episodes — because you can’t not watch.

Then, once you’ve finished the series (or all the episodes you have access to), part of you just wants to go back and start them all over, like you do when you finish reading a really good novel. You aren’t ready for it to be over, but there isn’t anything else left, so you might as well start again from the beginning. This happened when I binge watched Doctor Who and Torchwood for the first time years ago, and when I watched the first two seasons of Teen Wolf last summer.

Some people try to tell me rereading books is a waste of time, and the same could go for rewatching television shows. There are so many other options out there, they say, why bother with something you’ve already seen (or read)? I disagree.

I often equate rereading a book with a visit to an old friend. You get to relive all the things you loved, remember all the things you forgot, and sometimes learn things you hadn’t known before. I’m currently in the middle of rereading all the Harry Potter books and am enjoying them just as much as I did the first time around. The same is true when you binge-watch a series you’ve already seen from start to finish. You’re reminded of all the qualities you enjoyed about the series the first time, and you get to experience all your favorite parts over again.

My family and I have been rewatching Gilmore Girls recently, and there are so many things that we had forgotten about the series that some episodes feel like we’re watching them for the first time. And there’s something comforting about revisiting Rory and Lorelai’s adventures. I’ve always wished I could live somewhere like Stars Hollow (though if I actually did, I’d probably go crazy in a week), and I love visiting that town through the show.

There are those who would argue that watching television is not as intellectually stimulating as reading a book in your down time, but those people apparently haven’t tried figuring out what Hurley’s lottery numbers mean on Lost or put thought into any number of other television mysteries.

One way in which binge watching a series could arguable be superior to reading a novel is with those frustrating cliffhangers. The ability to binge watch a show that has a habit of ending in cliffhangers, either at the end of an episode or at the end of a season, means you don’t always have to wait a week (or several months) in between those episodes to see what happens next. Unfortunately, in a series of novels, there’s no way to avoid the big cliffhangers between books unless you wait until the entire series is published before reading.

When each Harry Potter book came out, I started reading and did not stop until the book was finished. I read all 759 pages of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in less than 12 hours. That’s not much different than watching an entire season of television in less than a week. Book readers have been in on this trend for decades; now, binge watching is the new normal for television.

If you’re looking for suggestions on what shows to binge watch, check out our Binge Watch column where we periodically review shows our staff writers have binged.

Magic of Harry Potter endures, especially in UK

When I was in high school, I discovered a series of books that captivated my imagination in a way no book had before or has since. There’s just something about J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter novels that is entirely whimsical and magical: no matter how old you are when reading them, you feel like a kid again as you share in Harry’s adventures. Harry Potter captivated the world from the moment the first book was published, and I’ve realized over the last few weeks that magic will never fade. I am perfectly happy about that.

Harry Potter has been in the news a lot this past week. Tuesday was the 14-year anniversary of the publication of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. (14 years?!? It doesn’t seem possible.) But the big news was that Rowling published a new short story about the world of Potter on her Pottermore social media website. While the rest of the world is tuned in to the finals of the FIFA World Cup, you can follow the news of the Quidditch World Cup through Rita Skeeter’s gossip column in the Daily Prophet. The story describes adult Harry Potter and his friends as they attend the biggest quidditch match of the past four years.

Tuesday also marked the grand opening of Diagon Alley at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. One of my dreams in life is to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and have a Butterbeer in Diagon Alley. While I haven’t gotten there yet, I was pleasantly surprised to visit many Harry Potter-themed locations during my recent trip to the United Kingdom. This, more than any of the mentions of Harry Potter in the media this week, has proved to me that the magic of Harry Potter will live on forever.

I knew when I left home that I would have free time in London, so visiting King’s Cross and Platform 9 ¾ was always at the top of my to-do list. But I never even considered how many other ways Harry Potter would come to mind throughout my trip. I even found myself wondering at one point: what would this trip have been like before Harry Potter existed? Would it have been a little less magical? Because there were times when I could imagine Harry actually existing, which made the trip that much more special for all the fans who traveled with me.

It all started when we were in Edinburgh, Scotland — which may seem strange, but let me remind you that Rowling herself lives in Scotland. In fact, Rowling spent much of her time writing Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (as the first book is known in the U.K.) in a little café called The Elephant House. I don’t know what the café was like back in the 1990s, when Rowling was a regular, but today it’s a wonderful place to stop and have lunch.

The Elephant House proudly boasts about being “The birthplace of Harry Potter,” but other than a sign on the window and news clippings on one wall, the café has held to its original elephant theme. There are elephant statues, elephant pictures, elephant books (Babar!), and even a really cute old, wooden child’s chair shaped like an elephant. It had a great atmosphere and really good food. One could easily forget the connection to Rowling until walking into the restroom. I can’t speak for the men’s room, of course, but the walls of the women’s restroom were covered, floor to ceiling (and even the mirror), with notes from Harry Potter fans from all over the world. Standing there, looking at all the notes, really made me realize how large the Potter fandom is.

In the famous Greyfriars Kirkyard, not far from The Elephant House, lie the graves of Thomas Riddell, Esq., and a William McGonagall, both believed to have been subconscious inspirations for the characters of Tom Riddle and Professor McGonagall. Unfortunately for me, though I wandered through this graveyard that day, I did not realize the connection to Harry Potter until much later. However, I did see some very creepy headstones in the graveyard, and it made me think a little of the graveyard scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

After leaving Scotland, we traveled down through England, making our way to London. We spent one day in the lovely city of York, which was also the starting point for this year’s Tour de France. After touring York Minster, which is a gorgeous cathedral with a fascinating history dating back to the Romans, we were taken on a tour of some of the smaller streets of the town. Walking through those streets was like stepping into Harry Potter’s England in real life.

The streets were brick or cobblestone, and the myriad collection of storefronts with colorful window displays reminded me so much of the famous Harry Potter location, Diagon Alley. (There were even a few that brought to mind images of the creepier Knockturn Alley.) As I walked, I could imagine myself looking into the storefronts of Ollivanders or Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions. I had made this observation to one of my traveling companions and, not five minutes later, we turned a corner and suddenly we really were standing in Diagon Alley.

The Shambles is one of the oldest streets in York and one of the best-preserved medieval locations in the world. At the time they were built — as early as 900 years ago — the owners were taxed based on the footprint of the building; therefore, they would build up and out, leading to buildings appearing top-heavy and crooked. Looking down this street, you really could swear you were in Diagon Alley — in fact, Harry Potter tours will make this a stop on their trip, claiming the street served as an inspiration for the street of markets. The Shambles may well be the closest you’ll get to Diagon Alley in real life (not counting a theme park attraction), so if you ever find yourself in York, I recommend you look it up.

London is one of the first places in England people think of when they think of Harry Potter, and, indeed, there are a lot of connections there. However, I found my favorite Harry Potter-related memory in London actually had nothing to do with Platform 9 ¾ which is basically just a tourist trap these days — a fun stop, but I prefer more authentic experiences. I did not wait in line for the photo op as I did not have time before I had to meet the rest of my group for a tour of Windsor Castle, but I did stop into the gift shop nearby.

While this is just another tourist trap and way to spent money, I did enjoy wandering through this small shop, looking at all the merchandise. (They had actual, house-themed cardigans and scarves!) There was a wall of wands nestled in their boxes, just like you would find in Ollivanders. The hustle and bustle of the shop and the Harry Potter soundtrack pumping through the speakers couldn’t help but make me imagine I was really in a wizarding shop.

While in London, we also made a quick stop at Millennium Bridge, which you can see being destroyed by Death Eaters in the sixth Harry Potter film. Aside from the Harry Potter connection, the bridge itself is fascinating. There are places where people have dropped used chewing gum as they have walked across the bridge. The gum has become ground into the floor of the bridge. Some of those pieces have become miniature works of art, as someone has taken the time to transform them into animals and other images. Rumor has it, this is the work of the artist known as Banksy.

My favorite Harry Potter-related memory in London is one that was entirely unexpected — and also a little terrifying at the time. After arriving at our hotel on the outskirts of the city, we had to take a double-decker bus into the city, where we could then use the London Underground. I was excited to be able to cross “ride in the top of a London double-decker bus” off my bucket list, but the ride itself was rather terrifying.

Remember that scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where Harry rides the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron? This ride literally felt almost exactly like that. The bus drove fast and came to many abrupt stops — sometimes much closer to the vehicle in front of us than may be comfortable — crossed lanes haphazardly, squeezed between parked cars on one side and oncoming traffic on the other, and nearly ran straight into another bus making the same turn. It truly reminded everyone with me of Harry’s trip on the Knight Bus, and looking back, it’s possibly one of my favorite memories from London — it’s certainly one of the most vivid.

And that’s why, even after all these years, Harry Potter still has an impact in the lives of its fans. The magic of the books and the films can be invoked at any time; they can cheer you up on a dreary day, transport you to a world where anything is possible, and, last month, Harry Potter helped make my trip to the Great Britain just a little more magical.

Why I hate The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Reading books has always been one of my favorite pastimes. One of the most positive aspects of my own childhood was having a variety of books at my disposal. Someone, usually my grandmother, would see that I got to the library every two weeks during summer breaks, and I could borrow as many books as I could carry. On my birthday, Easter, and Christmas, I could expect to receive many books as gifts.

Not only did I have access to books, but I also had good reading role models. My grandparents always spend their evenings reading. My grandfather favors nonfiction, especially political analyses and biographies. My grandmother prefers mystery novels.

My dad spent many hours reading to me as a child. I loved how he would change his voice for each character. He has always spent days when it is either too hot or too cold to be outside with a book in his hands. He especially loves Larry McMurtry and historical fiction set in the time of the fur-trading mountain man.

In the summers, I would spend some weekends with my aunt and cousin. My aunt would usually take us to the public pool and, when we were tired of the water, we would rest on her big blanket and listen as she read us The Hobbit.

For myself, I prefer novels and historical fiction, though I do read nonfiction and biographies on topics and people who interest me. Long before I had kids, I knew that I would want to develop in them a love of books and reading. When I was expecting my first child, many books were given to me as gifts. Among them were classics from Beatrix Potter, plus Goodnight Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, whimsical books by Eric Carle and Sandra Boynton, and Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree.

For the beginning part of my first child’s young life, most of our time was spent with short and sweet books made out of fabric or board, which could survive near-constant exposure to baby gums and baby drool. But, after a while, I thought we’d read The Giving Tree. Everyone I knew said they loved it.

So, we began to read. The book starts out well enough. A tree loves a little boy. The little boy loves the tree. He loves her shade and her leaves and her apples. He loves to spend time with her, climb, swing, and play with her. The tree is happy. The boy is happy.

And that’s where the nice story ends and the personality disorders of the two main characters are revealed.

The boy grows up and leaves the tree but returns as a young adult. The tree invites the boy to come and play, but the boy says he wants to have fun and buy things and asks the tree for money. This is red flag number one: selfish freeloader. The tree doesn’t have money, of course, but gives the boy, now a young man, all of her apples to sell. The boy does not even say thank you. So far, the tree seems to be a helpful friend, willing to give the boy the benefit of the doubt that he really isn’t a selfish freeloader. The tree is wrong.

Years go by and the boy comes back to the tree. He is sad. He again refuses the tree’s offer to play and, without so much as a “How do you do?” asks for a house. Red flag number two: narcissism. Narcissism is a personality disorder in which an individual pursues personal gratification without regard for the feelings of others. Some traits of narcissists include (but certainly are not limited to) difficulty maintaining satisfactory relationships and a lack of empathy.

Of course, the tree has no house, but she does have branches, which she gives the boy (who is now a man) in order to build himself a house. He takes the lumber and leaves, again without saying thank you! The tree is happy.

Here’s where I begin to worry about this tree, because I’m pretty sure this tree suffers from codependency. Codependency, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a psychological condition or a relationship in which a person is controlled or manipulated by another who is affected with a pathological condition (typically narcissism or drug addiction); and in broader terms, it refers to the dependence on the needs of, or control of, another. It also often involves placing a lower priority on one’s own needs, while being excessively preoccupied with the needs of others.”

The tree now has no branches, no leaves, and no apples. It’s basically alone and naked in the woods for decades when the boy, who is now a much older man, comes back. I imagine him, during this absence, having been married and divorced a minimum of three times. He probably has foreclosed on at least one house and has developed a gambling problem and an addiction to alcohol and/or street drugs. He also has had difficulty keeping a job and is estranged from all of his kids because he never really cared enough to parent them.

But return to the tree he does, and the tree is ecstatic. Did he come to thank the tree? Did he come to visit, reminisce, or play with the tree? The answer, predictably, is a big, fat NO. Now, this guy whines that he’s too old and too sad and too miserable, and he wants to sail away in a boat. (Probably to escape those persistent debt collectors and the attorneys of his three ex-wives!) The tree offers her entire trunk to this self-centered bastard and is happy about it. If I was unsure whether the tree was codependent before, I’m not anymore. The man is not too old to carry away the rest of this tree, and he presumably makes his boat and sails away. I’ll let you guess whether or not he said thank you.

Finally, when the man is old and very near death, he comes back to the tree. The tree is actually sorry that she has nothing left to offer the man except what little remains of her stump. But he uses the tree one last time as a chair, and the tree is happy.

Really!?!?!

I hate this book because it’s not a story of love and friendship. It’s not even a story about giving, as the title implies. The Giving Tree is actually a really sick tale of a horribly dysfunctional relationship. For kids.

No, thank you. If my kids are going to learn about dysfunctional relationships, it’s going to be the old-fashioned way: by watching inappropriate movies and television shows, and by the example set by their dad and me.

Read all the things! Fantasy, humor great for summer

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

A favorite web comic/blog of mine is now a book featuring a series of stories that happened to (or because of) a young girl. Hyperbole and a Half is perfect for a “meh” sort of day because it’s an instant mood booster. With pictures drawn by the author (who I sincerely want to be friends with), each tale left me laughing and often identifying with her train of thought. From her exploits with Simple Dog to her struggles with motivation and depression, readers can connect with almost every story. On some level, I think each of us has had a moment of IDGAF rebellion when we just feel nothing (and a little bit invincible) or when we just can’t seem to guilt ourselves into actually doing something. And maybe finding one other person who understands (and the laughs we can get from the stories and pictures she provides) is just the leg up we need. I blew through this book in a few hours (the pictures help), and I laughed the entire time. Allie’s prose is very straightforward, and if you enjoy deadpan humor, you’ll absolutely get a kick out of this book.

One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories by B. J. Novak

Not only is the former The Office actor and writer attractive, he’s hilarious and brilliant off-screen, too. In One More Thing, Novak presents beloved tales, various themes, and ideas across a wide range of subjects with a sharp wit, keen eye, and inquisitive mind. We see the hare’s side of the race with the tortoise, a teacher who wants to do away with arithmetic, the stock market struggling through depression, what heaven might be like, and what some people may consider when they talk to their ex. B.J. entertains the reader with each story, some of which are only two sentences, but all of which speak volumes.

Green Rider by Kristen Britain

If you’re looking for something in the fantasy realm (especially if you’re as big a fan of series as I am), Green Rider is a high ranker on my list. It was also one of the first fantasy novels I have read to feature a female protagonist. Fearing expulsion and disappointing her family, Karigan G’ladheon leaves her school after a fight with an aristocrat’s son only to find her troubles just beginning. On the road home, Karigan encounters a young man, dressed in green, impaled with two blacks arrows. He is one of the king’s Green Riders, a legendary messenger service that serves the crown. He pleads with his dying breath that she carry on his mission and deliver the life-and-death message to King Zachary. Unable to deny the dying man’s final wish, she agrees to the task. She is given his golden winged-horse brooch, the symbol of the Green Riders, and a warning: “Beware the shadow man …” Now pursued by assassins, spirits, and an unknown threat to the kingdom, Karigan embarks on her journey through a world of complex magic and forces she does not yet understand.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life by Jen Sincero

January 1 isn’t the only time to make life-changing decisions and resolutions, and if you need that extra push to really start enjoying your life, You Are a Badass won’t steer you wrong. Some people may shy away from this sort of book because it’s self-help, but I honestly believe if everyone read this book, the world would be much better off. The author delivers her lessons through tales from her own life, but the advice never feels like a lecture. It’s almost like Jen is right there just talking to you. You’re forced to really look at yourself, own up to your faults, and then fix them by evaluating what you really want — because if you want something, you’ll make it happen. To make more money, to move to another city, to lose those extra few books — if you want it, go for it. Plus, she curses while encouraging you to stop moping and feeling sorry for yourself, which earns huge points in my book.

The Way of Shadows (Night Angel Trilogy #1) by Brent Weeks

Another recommendation for the fantasy (and series) lovers out there, The Way of Shadows combines assassin training, the will to survive, and magic. Azoth, a young “guild rat” who has grown up in the slums, knows survival is not guaranteed. He searches for the city’s most accomplished assassin, Durzo Blint, to gain an apprenticeship with the wetboy and create a better life for himself and, hopefully, help his friends in the process. In order to be accepted by Durzo, Azoth must reject his old life and take on the identify of Kylar Stern, a trained killing artist and deadly opponent. Kylar must obey his new master’s teachings, learn the dangerous politics of the city and its inhabitants, and control the strange magic that comes with being an assassin who is chose by a Ka’kari, an orb that connects the broken paths in a person’s magic, allowing Kylar to access his powers. I was completely engrossed in this book from start to finish and blew through the trilogy in a few days. The characters are well-developed and the intrigues and hard choices posed — friends or orders, love or duty — kept me begging for more.

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