Spring Cleaning and Summer Reading

Life has been busy lately, mostly with cleaning and raking and such. Which means I've barely had time to read. Reading gets squeezed in here in and there, and I really miss it. It has gotten me thinking about some of the books that I have recently fallen in love with.

So, I decided to list a few here. There are others deserving of mention, but a blog post can be only so long. I may add another post or two with more. Many of these I have reviewed, and some not. But these are books that have taken my breath away for one reason or another. Every one of these books is either on my shelf or in my Nook, and will remain part of my permanent collection:

Alpha Redemption, by P. A. Baines. Sci-fi. Beautiful and haunting, with slips of Douglas Adams style humor, woven together in a way that blew my mind.

A Star Curiously Singing and The Superlative Stream, by Kerry Neitz. Sci-fi. The most incredible example of "voice" I've read. Could not put them down.

Seabird, Earthbow I, and Earthbow II, by Sherry Thompson. Fantasy. A book series that I was a little skeptical of at first because I was unfamiliar with small presses. But, wow. Turns out it's one of the best fantasy series I've ever read.

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. Fantasy. Super long book that will make you wish it was even longer when you come to the end. Fortunately the sequel just released. I've been waiting very impatiently!

Incarceron and Sapphique, by Catherine Fisher. Fantasy/sci-fi/steampunk. Amazing mix of genres, amazing writing, amazing originality. Loved everything about this series.

Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. YA suspense. Heart-wrenching and real. Deals with teen suicide. The handling of this topic and the writing are masterful.

Nevermore, by Kelly Creagh. YA fantasy/romance/suspense. Cheerleader main character is nothing like me. But the characterization is incredible, and it's dark and twisted, and it's inspired by Edgar Allen Poe's writing. I was sucked in and didn't want to leave.

There, now you have a summer reading list :).

A Star Curiously Singing--a Book So Aptly Named

Another pause in our artist series. I'm a freehead, so I can do that. No stops for me.

Unless you've read A Star Curiously Singing by Kerry Neitz, you're probably thinking "What?"

Well, I've read it. AND The Superlative Stream.

I am not one for simple plot summaries when it comes to book reviews--you probably know that. I'm not going to start now. I will say it's the story of Sandfly, a "debugger" sent to fix a robot on an experimental spaceship. Sci-fi, yep. Not heavy, hard sci-fi. Very character-driven. And voice....

The voice of these novels is what really grabbed me. The plot is awesome, the characterization top-notch...the pacing, descriptions, everything, no complaints. Spot on.

The voice, mind-blowing.

Especially when you consider the point of view they're written in.

OK, lesson time for you non-writers (or maybe you writers who could use a refresher):

Novels are written in a multitude of pov's, including third person omniscient, third person limited, second person, and first person.

Third person (either kind) is written as though someone else is telling the story, as in, "He stared into the murky depths..." Second person is nearly never used, and involves directing its prose at the reader, "You see, it don't you? Over there...." First person is written as though the character is telling the story, "I dug through my backpack, searching for..." (Keep in mind, this is the narrative part. Dialog is a free-for-all, folks.)

You also have your choice of past tense or present tense. The "he stared" is past tense, the "you see" is present tense.

Most books choose third person (limited--meaning you only get into one character's head at a time), past tense. Next in popularity is first person, past tense. Quite a few new books--including Kerry's here--are coming out in first person, present tense. Second person is pretty much not done, but Kerry works it in here and there.

Which (finally) brings me to my point. First person present tense is like singing a capella. Third person past is more like having instrumental accompaniment. For some reason, third person, and even first person past, is just more forgiving when it comes to style. Maybe because it's what we're used to reading, so we don't look for anything "off-key," same as listening to singing with background instruments. But first person present is different, rare, like a capella singing, and you have to get it perfect or every eensy-weensy mistake is amplified. Second person, forget it. It's like having someone sing right into your ear.

Kerry does it though. Flawlessly. He sings this story, no back-up, no reliance on convention.

I could not put these books down. They're completely addictive, just like a great song--the kind of song you put into your mp3 player and let it play on repeat for hours.

In my book, Kerry is a star, curiously--skillfully--singing.

You can find A Star Curiously Singing here:

Amazon print and Kindle.

Barnes and Noble print and Nookbook.

Marcher Lord Press.

I assume from there you can maneuver your way to The Superlative Stream, freehead.