Words for a Wednesday: To Kill A Mockingbird

I, for one, really enjoyed Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Scout, the narrator, is an inquisitive little girl who loves to read (double awesome) and I absolutely adore its whole message about racism and how to conquer it.

Basically, read the book. And although I haven't tried the sequel yet, it's apparently good. So check that out too.

I'll be honest: I didn't even consider reading this book until we studied it for school, and once we were, I had to spend a lot of time finding quotes to use in essays. This one is what stuck out - it might not be as deep, insightful or hard-hitting as some of the others, which you hear a lot, but it spoke to me. Mostly because it's about reading. What do you guys think?

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing." - Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird

Scout, I agree with you. One does not love breathing, and yet reading comes as naturally. If I'm in the mood, I will grab any book around and start it immediately. That includes my Dad's Winston Churchill biography, if there's nothing else around.

This quote also gave me a little bit of hope, because sometimes I'm really not in the mood to read, and that's okay. I can still call myself a bookworm, because it's when I fear I might lose the power of words and losing myself in them that I begin to panic. Just like Scout.

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What do you lovely people think of To Kill A Mockingbird? And, other than breathing, what can you compare words and reading to

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The Cover Championships of Champions (Part 2/2)

Greetings! Please ensure that, after you read this nugget of wonderfulness from Lara Liz, you scroll down to read yesterday's. It got posted only an hour or so ago due to a WiFi calamity.

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Why thank you, random public-service announcer who may or may not be a figment of my imagination. You really do have a point there.

Anyway, I'm now home and have escaped from the horrible curses of unreliable internet, so we can get on with the Cover Championships of Champions. Woo-hoo! Here is a reminder of the four beautiful books that have reached the semi-final stage (if you want to find out what happened to the others I plucked randomly out of the air nominated, then just click here):

From left to right: Dorothy Must Die (Danielle Paige), Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell), The London Eye Mystery (Sioban Dowd).

Semi-Final #1 - Dorothy Must Die vs. Fangirl

Wow. Now that we've got to the semi-final, competition is really hotting up! These covers are both undeniably eye-catching, and I personally think they sum up their stories very well. Either would do well in the final, but only one can go through, so I'm going to indulge a preference of mine and admit that I prefer bright colours to dark ones - dystopian seems to be everywhere at the moment, and Fangirl goes through, as it brings a little whimsy to my day.

Semi Final #2 - The London Eye Mystery vs. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Hmm. This one is also exceptionally close, and I find it a little scary. WHAT IF EVERYBODY HATES MY DECISION AND WANTS TO KILL ME?! I like life. . .

However, as tough as it is, I must come to a conclusion. Because the colours are brighter and I love London, I choose The London Eye Mystery. Also, once you read it, you will understand that everything on it is a clue to a part of the plot. I love covers like that.

GRAND FINAL -  FANGIRL vs. THE LONDON EYE MYSTERY 

Oooh. These two aren't just beautiful, they're similar. Both full of colours and clues and a little bit of whimsical cartoonery. We certainly know what I like, don't we?

I'm going to have to ask for a second opinion on this one. Mum says The London Eye Mystery, and do you know, I agree with her. So it's the Cover Champion of the Championships of Champions!

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What do you guys think of my decisions? Have you read any of these books? And which is your personal cover champion?

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Paper-Related Towns

Hello, bloglings! I was going to post Part 2 of Friday’s Cover Championships of Champions, but I'm currently in a hotel with less-than-reliable WiFi (explaining why this is showing up a day later than planned), and it isn't dealing very well with photo downloads. Not good for such a visually-oriented post!

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Instead, I would like to talk to you about a wonderful place I found on this little holiday of mine. For some of you, it may not be a new discovery.

It was, however, utterly fantastic.

I'm talking about the Waterstones in Lewes, the ‘county town’ of East Sussex. A weird thing to get excited about, I know, but it wasn't like any Waterstones I’d ever come across. For a start, it had this really cool wood-style décor instead of the black you usually get, and the Children’s section was practically in the front of the bookstore. I am not even kidding. That in itself was perfect.

Then I realised there was a café involved. And café tables amongst the bookshelves. Sure, I did cringe a bit when I thought about possibly sticky hands touching brand-new books, but they had ice-cream. How can I get angry when there’s ice-cream involved? I'm sure they make people pay for stickyfied books.

A picture cannot possibly do the wonderfulness of this bookshop justice, but a person online has tried.

And, to top it all off, I bought Paper Towns. The book I've been instructing myself to buy for at least a week and a half. It is beautiful and perfect and hilarious and all the things you would expect from a book involving a road trip and a cow.

I had a pretty good day yesterday (as you can tell from my sentences – they usually get shorter as I get more excited); the best part was probably how I got thinking about all the other brilliant book-places I wish I could live in. Old Pier Books in Morcambe, the second-hand bookshop my Grandparents have been taking me every summer for years because the funfair is always closed. The school book sale when I almost managed to wangle Pride and Prejudice for free. Even my bog-standard local bookshop is important, to me, because they’re all points on my reading map. All paper-related towns (I love what I did there).

Books are the catalyst for all these memories.

In conclusion, I really like the Waterstones in Lewes. You guys should all go there, en masse, just to see who was more surprised: you or the poor man owning said bookshop. And I really, really want to know about the points on your reading maps, partly because I can go there, and partly because they make you the reader you are. So I can recommend you more books, knowing you’ll like them.

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Tell me all about your paper-related towns! Please? I would love to hear about some involving ice-cream. . . 

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The Cover Championships of Champions (Part 1/2)

Let's all admit it - it's super-fun to judge books by their covers. You can see the prettiness, stroke the prettiness and then assess the prettiness.

Okay, sorry. Got a bit fangirly there. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to host a little Cover Championships (of Champions). And yes, I am the only judge, so what I say goes, unfortunately. For now. You guys can have your say in the comments section!

Here are the competitors:

From Top Left: Dorothy Must Die (Danielle Paige), Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell), Heist Society (Ally Carter), Red (Alison Cherry), The Jewel (Amy Ewing), I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You (Ally Carter), The London Eye Mystery (Siobhan Dowd), Throne of Glass (Sarah J. Maas).

Today, we're going to do the preliminary rounds (if you're wondering, I did the draw randomly using this virtual hat), and tomorrow will be semi-finals and finals. I don't want to bore you all with a massively long post! And, without further ado, let's get going.

Quarter Final #1 - Dorothy Must Die vs. Throne of Glass

Two stylised female figures. Two beautiful title fonts. I did give myself a tricky one to start with, didn't I?

I like the colour contrast in Dorothy Must Die, and the metaphorical implication that she is nothing but her clothes, but the 'dirt' on it makes me uneasy. I like a clean-cut cover. And the best part of Throne of Glass is the fact it has an ice heart, like the heroine.

It's a close-run thing, but let's go for Dorothy Must Die. I like the design. :-)

Quarter Final #2 - Red vs. Fangirl

Fangirl? Red? Fangirl? Red? I keep going back and forth, because they're pretty in a way I can't rationalise. I NEED TO RATIONALISE OR I CAN'T JUDGE IT!

Okay, Fangirl has lettering that better suits its characters, and I have a soft spot for the cartoon-ery. Red put up a good fight, but has been eliminated.

Quarter Final #3 - Heist Society vs The London Eye Mystery

I like these two because they need solving - they're full of little details which give clues to the plot. Look at Heist Society, and the painting reflected in Kat's sunglasses. Without that, she'd look like any other girl, but that painting shows who she truly is - a thief. In The London Eye Mystery, the dark sky shows that all isn't what it seems, and the fact the Eye is bigger than the characters shows how lost they feel. It's a close one, but I'll go with The London Eye Mystery. It's refreshing to see a cover which doesn't just focus on the Main Character.

Quarter Final #4 - The Jewel vs. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

This one's basically the Duel of the Dresses, since I chose nominated them both for the beautiful clothing, and I think I'm going to have to go with I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You (typing that out makes my fingers hurt, it's so long). I love the tartan skirt; heart as an O, and nail polish.

Mind you, I have to give an honourable mention to The Jewel for that beautiful lettering. Don't you agree?

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Do you guys agree with my decisions, or want to kill me for them? I won't be offended if it's the latter! And which is YOUR favourite book cover?

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Words for a Wednesday: All the Bright Places

Okay. I'm going to warn you guys now: today's Words for a Wednesday is actively designed to make you cry. Partly because I'm evil like that *mwa ha ha*, but mostly because there is no other way for people to fully understand the beautiful All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven.

It's about a girl who learns how to live from a boy who wants to die. You know the waterworks are coming just from that one sentence, but they're necessary. The topics covered in this book are big: mental health; love; loss; hope; the lack of it, and the general difficulties of being a far-from-normal teenager. These tears are organic and real, and they're a direct product of Niven's skilled handling of those topics.

Right *cracks knuckles* lets get down to some of the best quotes - I think I'll do some proper photography of them today, like a good little blogger. Oh, and if I were you, I'd definitely go and read the book, like, right now, but there are no spoilers in the bits I've chosen, and I think they all make sense without having read the full story. Here you go!

"You are all the colours in one, at full brightness." - All The Bright Places, Jennifer Niven

Honestly, what girl doesn't want to have this said to her? And I love the idea of someone being so important to you that they're almost overwhelmingly bright, that they take you over and are a bright, brilliant white.

Because, when you think about it, white is all colours at once.

"Sometimes there's beauty in tough words - it's all in how you read them." #AllTheBrightPlaces

I love this quote because it's so illustrative of the book itself. Sometimes, tough words need reading, and they can be beautiful. There's joy in sadness and light in dark - we just need to find it through those tough words.

Ultraviolet Remarkeyable

Finch's nickname for Violet is, really, the sweetest thing in the world for me. I love that, although it could be argued he has bigger problems than she does, they support each other. And he says the cutest things.

"We do not remember days, we remember moments."

This one is just so true and brilliant. Can you name one day where you remember every second and all the details of those seconds? It's unlikely - and I think that that's okay. Because moments are the highlights of our lives, the summary show - if we had to remember whole days, we couldn't remember half the brilliant things we do. Moments are powerful.

"People rarely bring flowers to a suicide." - All the Bright Places

Wow. This one hits home for me because it's so true - and why does it have to be? Suicide is a tragedy, however you look at it, and often, the person who's died was suffering from an illness: it just happened to be mental instead of physical. I don't think that means their loved ones' grief is less, and it certainly doesn't mean the death has to be hidden.

Tears are important. Grieving is important, because not only does it let people move on with their lives, but it also helps them think about how to help others. Emotion is so often our inspiration for doing something about the thing that caused it.

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Have you guys read All the Bright Places (if not, you totally should)? Which are your favourite quotes? And do you agree that tears are necessary?

Oh, and what do you think of my photos? I'm not a pro yet, but I'm really enjoying it!

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The Heroine Tag

Okay, I'm a terrible human being. This is yesterday's post. I was going to publish it last night, but then stuff happened and I realised I'd forgotten the pictures. We can't have a blog post without pictures! Here's the finished article, and I'll publish today's in a few hours.

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Hello, all! Today's post is shamelessly stolen from Kate at The Magic Violinist, who in turn stole it from Cait (just as lovely but differently spelled) at Paper Fury. And, seeing as we all already know how much I love Hermione Granger, I'm going to try and answer all the questions without mentioning her.

I'm sorry, Hermione. As always, take careful note of the word 'TRY' in that sentence.

1. Which heroine would you trade places with?

Oooh, an interesting one. I'll go with Laura Marlin from the Laura Marlin Mysteries, mostly because she gets to live in beautiful St. Ives and has (reasonably) free rein while her Uncle's busy at work. She can walk to school along the beach, for Pete's sake. And she has a husky named Skye.

Huskies are my favourite dog breed, and Skye is what I was always going to call a dog if I was ever allowed one. So far, I haven't been. And yes, it's true that she does usually end up with someone trying to kill her by the end of the book, but I could probably get round that by not aggravating hardened criminals.

2. Which heroine would you push off a cliff and hope there were some jagged rocks at the bottom?

Can I just say? Horrible question! Characters are my babies and I'm not pushing them anywhere. But, I'll bite. Here's one I'm angry with:

Cassia from Matched. Oh my gosh, CASSIA FROM MATCHED. I was going to put her down in the 'bland' column, but then I started typing and realised I was actually pretty angry with her. I mean, I wouldn't wish death on anyone, but she's just so dramatic. And a little dull.

How can someone be too boring and too drama-queeny all at the same time?

3. Heroine you couldn't even care less about? They're so bland they don't even inspire the hate in you?

This is actually a pretty tough one, because I tend to hate book characters more than I don't care about them. Possibly. . . CASSIA FROM MATCHED.

Oh no, here I go again. I'd just like to say, before you all go off and despise me, that I liked Matched and am currently reading Crossed. They're good books. It's just, I tend to feel good about most heroines, and she seemed a little off to me. In the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal.

4. Heroine you thought you wouldn't like and ended up liking and vice versa?

I really didn't think I'd like Piper McLean from the Heroes of Olympus series, mostly because she fills the same role as Annabeth and no-one can beat Annabeth. But she's pretty cool, in her own way, and showed me that the kids from Aphrodite cabin don't just sit about doing their hair.

I can't think of a heroine that I thought I'd like and didn't. Yay me for good judgement?!

5. Side heroine who is much more interesting than the main heroine?

Fun! Can I pick two? Firstly, although I love all the characters in Red, Ivy is so much cooler and more memorable than Felicity. She entered a beauty pageant wearing converse, so she pretty much wins in my book.

My second choice is, incidentally, called Red (or, later, Rowan) in The 13 Treasures series. She's tough, and she's been wounded, but she still knows her own mind. So does Tanya, the main character, but I always preferred Rowan.

6. Which heroine would you want as your friend?

Lyra Belacqua from the His Dark Materials series would be pretty awesome to have as a friend. We could mess about together; play with our daemons (I'm almost sure the final form of mine would be a songbird) and generally have fun. Our names are only one letter different - that has to count for something!

7. Which heroine do you wish would just CHOOSE between the guys in her love triangle?

I'd say Kat Bishop from Heist Society, not because she didn't have chemistry between both Nick and Hale, but because, to me, Hale had known her for so much longer and seemed the natural choice. I'm not going to ruin the ending for you guys, but I was satisfied with it.

8. 'Bad girl' heroine?

Macey McHenry from Gallagher Girls. She's covered in piercings, knows more about boys than her classes, and prefers to read Vogue than study. What I love about her is that she tries hard once she realises how lucky she is to be at Gallagher Academy, is endlessly loyal to her friends, and, towards the end, realises that good grades are the best way to disappoint her parents, because they think she must have cheated.

9. 'Good girl' heroine?

There are so many, but I'll go with Cath from Fangirl - she's at college, doesn't drink or party, and prefers to sit up in her room writing FanFiction. But she does go to class.

Admittedly, not all of this stuff is good. Get out there, Cath! Meet people! But it does mean she's definitely qualified as one of the most amazing good girl heroines ever.

10. Your favourite heroine of them all, or your top three if you can't choose?

This one is so, so hard. I applaud whoever wrote these questions for their making me choose-ness. Number one would obviously be Hermione Granger (or maybe Luna Lovegood), but I'm not supposed to mention her, so I decline to answer.

Ha!

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What about you lovely people? You're tagged to do this as well, you know! And what are your top three heroines, seeing as I so miserably failed to choose any?

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5 Books Hollywood Must Adapt

With the new Paper Towns movie about to come out, I've been thinking a lot about book-to-film adaptations recently. I love the little things. They're so amazing and emotional and gripping that I want to hug the people who made them all over.

As long as they do it right. (Are you listening, Person Who Ruined the First Percy Jackson Movie?) *becomes slightly crazed*.

Okay, sorry, I'll rein myself in a bit. Here is a list of books which need to become films before I lose my patience. They might not be well-known, but that's no excuse.

When Lightning Strikes, by Jenny Carroll (Meg Cabot's pen name)

I really don't know why the film world haven't snapped this one up yet. It has teen angst, a sassy main character, and superpowers. Is that a no-brainer or what? Plus, it was written by Meg Cabot, who is crazy talented, and is even the first in a series. This thing is film dynamite.

Oh, and film industry? If the movie idea isn't working for you, this would also make a pretty good TV series.

Window Boy, by Andrea White

Frankly, I can understand why Hollywood haven't found Window Boy yet - you need to very specifically know what you're looking for to find it - but that doesn't mean it's not one of the best things I've ever read. I can imagine it making a beautifully epic film which would make the author a lot of money: she clearly deserves both the cash and the recognition because her book is that brilliant.

Just. . . I'll give you a quick word of warning. It's about a boy growing up with disabilities in the 1960s, so yes. YOU WILL CRY.

Model Spy Series, by Sarah Sky

I fully believe that this would make a brilliant film, provided certain conditions are met. It's half a chick-flick, half an adventure story, and would appeal to lots of people as long as it wasn't trivialised. Firstly, Jessica would have to be played smart, not just beautiful, and she couldn't be a girly-girl either. The whole point of her as a character is that she might be a model who loves her shoots, but she also wears vintage jackets and hates high heels because they make her too tall. Without those character complexities, she'd come across as a bit of a spoiled brat, not a Model Spy.

Also, I'm aware that this is the kind of series which would use one film for the whole lot, rather than one for each book, like with Stormbreaker or A Series of Unfortunate Events. This really wouldn't work here - I'd rather have only the first book adapted than a cover-all movie.

Noughts and Crosses series, by Malorie Blackman

These books would make a brilliant film series for so many reasons. Firstly, dystopian films never fail to make my jaw drop; secondly, it's already been made into a play, which worked pretty well, and thirdly, I really would love to see its message about unconscious racism reach a wider audience. To be honest, most of us need to get a better understanding of this subject, and the book helped me to do that. I'm hoping the film would do the same for a whole new set of people.

Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell

There is actually something going on with this one. According to a Rainbow Rowell blog post dated 8th April 2015, a DreamWorks film is in the works (*laughs at the unintended wordplay*), but no-one's going to be cast until they can get a director to sign on.

I only have one condition for this film - It's not a big one. Eleanor needs to be plus-sized, just like in the book. She wasn't necessarily hugely fat, but she had curves, and that's important. I would hate it if Hollywood skinny-ized her, because not only would certain plot points not make much sense, she wouldn't be such an important character. Do you get what I mean?

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Which books do you guys think should be made into films RIGHT NOW? And are you excited about the Paper Towns movie?

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7 Reasons Bookshops Might Be The Death of Me

Big Blogging Bonanza - Day 8! That's over a week, people. Thank you so much for reading and making this so awesome.

If there's one thing that a bookworm simply cannot resist, it's a bookshop. It's our haven, our sanctuary, but it's also actively designed to try and make us buy more books. Books are expensive things, and yet, although we might have ten or twenty unread ones at home, we just can't resist.

I've gathered up a handful of handy-dandy snapshots and diagrams to summarise our pain. It might be funny. Only . . . if you're not a bookworm, look away now. You might discover a serious drain on your funds here.

#1 - When you always, always need a new book.

I always buy a book when I get the chance, because even if I think I don't need it, I must be wrong. Some people call it irresponsible. I call it being honest with myself.

#2 - The texts you only send when you've run out of money.

My favourite part of this is that my Mum usually knows how many books I've chosen. And that I'm probably going to need help carrying them, let alone paying for them.

#3 - When you just don't know when to stop.

Just so you know, having seventeen books under your arm and adding just one more as you reach the till does not mean you've reached a higher level of bookshop addiction than the rest of us. This is almost embarrassingly common.

#4 - Alison Cherry gets it.

I sympathise with this for two reasons. Firstly, repeat copies (I NEED the new-design Harry Potter books). Secondly, coloured pages *swoon*.

#5 - That awkward moment. . . 

Seeing as the bookshop is one of the only shops I can actually visit without a possie of girlfriends to critique and help me decide on my every purchase, I struggle when it's closed. And it's absolutely necessary to set aside at least three hours every time I go in there.

#6 - When you realise your house does not have as many shelves as the shop itself.

Actually, local bookshop, I have a plan. Seeing as I buy half of your stock anyway, and don't like lugging it home, why don't my books just stay with you? In a Lara's-private section? I buy it, it gets shelved separately, and then I only need to bring the vital ones home. My shelves are less likely to collapse then.

Oh no, wait. They're all vital.

#7 - The inevitable visit to any bookshop you pass.

I actually cannot tell you how many times this has happened. In London, I didn't bother sightseeing. I found a bookshop.

And you should have seen me when I realised non-students weren't allowed in the Bodleian Library.

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What do you think is the most tempting part of a bookshop? And which of these have happened to you?

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The One Word I Hate Reading

I'm not going to lie - writing this post is going to hurt, because it's really important to me, and I'm actually terrified of getting this message wrong. If I don't quite say what I mean, it won't have the effect it needs to.

But I'm going to write it anyway, because I feel it's my responsibility. To try and get that oh-so-important information across. And it might not have everything to do with books, but it definitely has its place here. The story begins with me telling you I have Cerebral Palsy, usually called CP.

CP is a disability which affects the brain, usually due to a complication at birth. I've had it ever since I was born, and it means that although my brain is trying to tell my muscles what to do, the message doesn't always get across. It's important to remember that CP affects everyone differently, but the worst part of my condition is most definitely the spasms.

I'm not really sure how to explain spasms to people who haven't experienced them, but they're a little bit like cramp - muscles, usually leg ones in my case, clench so hard it hurts. I can't control them, no-one can, but they usually happen when I stand up after sitting down for a while. I'm used to it, so I can get past them, but I feel like I suffer enough just having them.

That's why I hate it when the word spaz turns up in books, TV shows or films. It's often used to describe someone stupid or clumsy, and I think that's unfair. Just because spasms cause our bodies to move in odd ways doesn't mean we don't have control over ourselves, and it also doesn't mean that we're any less smart than anyone else. I hate it even more when the word spastic is used, because it's a vital medical term - the type of CP I have is called Spastic Diplegia - but it's been turned into an insult. I hate it when the stigma of that word makes me wince at the doctor's, because frankly, they're just telling me the truth about my condition.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate any book or show which uses that word on sight. Friends is one of my favourite programmes, despite Rachel calling herself a 'laundry spaz' in one episode. And I understand that authors and scriptwriters aren't trying to insult me or anyone else - I just think we need to share the knowledge that these words aren't okay. Maybe a character needs to be picked up on saying it, or apologise for it. Because the fact is that I've not experienced being called a spaz, but I know a lot of people aren't so lucky, and whenever someone says it near me, it feels like a punch to the stomach, even if they're talking about themselves. What makes me really sad is that some people use it without knowing the implications. That they hurt others without realising it.

So this is what I'd like to say. Authors, editors, agents, bloggers, scriptwriters, screenwriters, actors, directors and anyone else who broadcasts their work to people: you have a powerful weapon at your disposal. You can change our culture for worse or for better.

Please don't endorse the word spaz, or spastic, or - while we're at it - any other discriminatory term in your work. I would be honoured if you used it and then picked up on it, maybe telling a character that's not okay, or even explaining to them what it means, but if you don't want to, don't. Just - please - use your weapon for good.

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If anyone wants some more information about Cerebral Palsy or disability in general, check out the Scope website. Coincidentally, they used to be called The Spastic Society, but that changed when it became an insult.

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