The Third Degree - Shout Out to the Teachers

THE THIRD DEGREE

SHOUT OUT TO THE TEACHERS

Hello teachers, I see you out there! *waves* This post is running in the middle of the day, so I am at school right now too. I thought maybe a post dedicated to you would be nice today.

Reading Vacation gets a good number of visits on weekdays from schools. I imagine this is mostly teachers and school libraries visiting because you are the ones who send me emails with comments and questions. I know some of the visits are students though, because I get those emails too – asking for help with school projects. Those always make me giggle. It’s funny that they would ask me for advice.

The most common questions I get have to do with my classes at school and if I want to be a writer, how they can get their own students to either read or blog, and also how I work blogging into my life. I’ll see if I can answer those here in case anyone was too shy to ask.

I am in seventh grade at a typical suburban Texas middle school. My basic classes are all gifted-talented/pre-AP which means I have a lot of projects. I actually like projects because I have fun planning them out and I like the sense of accomplishment when I am finished. I also have group projects, which bring their own challenges. My favorite classes are language arts and journalism. (surprised? I doubt it) I won’t say what my least favorite class is just in case that teacher is reading here. Ha ha!

Of course I would love to be a writer someday. Do I have the talent for that? I have no idea. What I would REALLY love to do someday is work for a publisher. That would be my dream job. Now, if we could get the publishing companies to move to Texas, we would have a match made in heaven. So, in reality, I don’t know what I want to do.

If you are hoping your students will start their own blogs, I have some advice for you. Most importantly, they must be extremely passionate about what they want to blog about. Blogging is time consuming. If they are passionate about the subject, then spending time blogging about it will be a joy. If they are not, then I can see blogging quickly becoming a drag. I love books and reading. Blogging about them is fun for me! If you asked me to write a blog about soccer, I would be miserable.

My other advice would be to show them blogs about their chosen subject. If their eyes light up and they start ooo-ing and ahhh-ing, then perhaps they have found their inspiration. Sometimes all it takes it to know that you are not alone, and jumping in is not so scary.

Working blogging into my life is all about juggling. During the summer, it’s easy because I am off school and I am too young to have a job. That means I have seemingly endless hours to read and blog. Juggling those two is easy. When the school year starts, it gets trickier. School and homework come before everything else. ALWAYS. After that, it becomes a toss-up between reading and blogging. I will do whichever needs more attention that day. Yes, I have a social life with friends outside of the blog too.

If there’s one thing blogging has taught me, it is to stay organized. I have spreadsheets, to-do lists, calendars, and planners. (just ask my blog partner, HD, at Young Bloggers Unite – he has seen first-hand just how overly organized I can get) The point is, if you keep it all organized to begin with, then you aren’t wasting time trying to remember what you were supposed to be doing that day. Organization is key!

I honestly think the Reading Vacation experience is helping me in ways that are not so obvious. Sure I am reading and writing a lot, building my vocabulary, and learning to organize; although, somehow, I still struggle with spelling. I am also meeting new people from all over the world. What goes unnoticed is that I am practicing skills that kids my age don’t often get to practice. Since I work with publishers, authors, and publicity companies, I am learning how to communicate with adult businesses in a professional way. I am also getting great experience in meeting deadlines and following up with these adults. You don’t get that kind of experience if you spend your days watching TV or playing video games.

There you have it teachers. Hopefully this gives you some motivation to inspire your students to think about blogging. You never know, some of them may give it a try. Thank you for being supportive of me and Reading Vacation. I love when you visit!

The Third Degree - Armchair BEA

THE THIRD DEGREE

ARMCHAIR BEA

Book Expo America (BEA), America’s largest publishing event, is fast approaching.  Book lovers, publishers, authors, and more will take over New York City May 23 – May 26 for BEA.  Not only that, but the Book Blogger Convention is scheduled for May 27. 

I spent some time drooling over all the events listed on the BEA website.  There are author breakfasts, panel discussions, exhibits, book signings, a digital stage, and a new title showcase. 

I have been watching a lot of Twitter-action as my blogging and author friends make their BEA plans.  I so wish I could be there too.  Imagine how many on-line friends would become real-life friends over a few days time. 

I am going to have to wait for that dream to come true.  This year, I will be busy finishing up sixth grade in Texas, so no BEA trip for me.  Maybe a senior year trip in 2017? 

Armchair BEA to the rescue!  This online event was created just before last year’s BEA.  I was very new to blogging and it was the first real book-related event I took part in.  My gosh, I met so many nice book lovers and I still keep in touch with many of them. 

This year, there will be daily blog post topics, vlogs from BEA, fantastic giveaways, a Twitter party, panel discussions, and blogger interview swaps.  You can enjoy BEA from your home too.  All you have to do is sign up.  Come on, sign up.  We can armchair it together.  Just click HERE to get started.

The Third Degree - Books My Friends Are Reading

THE THIRD DEGREE

BOOKS MY FRIENDS ARE READING

My real life friends are readers just like me.  When they come over to visit or work on a school project, I always let them choose a book to borrow from my bookshelf.  They call it Melina’s Library.  Of course, I keep my favorites hidden away just for me.  Shhhh, don’t tell anyone. 

I also keep an eye on what the other kids in my classes are reading.  That includes the boys, and some of them are REALLY into books.  Whoever says boys don’t read for fun doesn’t know the boys in my classes.

So, what have my friends and classmates been reading lately?

Beastly (I haven’t read this one)

Emily The Strange

Fallen Series

Forgive My Fins

Hex Hall

How To Survive Middle School

Hunger Games Series

Hush, Hush Series

Maximum Ride Series

My Fair Godmother

Prom and Prejudice

Sequins, Secrets and Silver Linings

The Ghost and The Goth

The Mortal Instruments Series

The Wolves of Mercy Falls Series

From that list, The Hunger Games is BY FAR the most popular.  It’s funny to me because I was reading Mockingjay the day it came out. That was back at the very beginning of the school year and so many of my classmates are just now reading the series.  Friends:  "Hey Melina, have you heard of The Hunger Games?"  Me:  "Umm, yeah."

The next most popular is The Mortal Instruments series.  That reminds me, I need to get a copy of City of Fallen Angels so my friends don’t get ahead of me.  We can’t have that now, can we?

Anyhow, I think it’s fun that How To Survive Middle School is so popular.  We are, in fact, surviving middle school so it’s perfect for us.  It's a boy that I catch reading the Emily the Strange books.  Oh, and a few of my friends decided to read Sequins, Secrets and Silver Linings for their giving-back project in language arts.

I am not the only one with an eReader either. There are a few other eReaders among my friends.  It is just as easy to carry my Kindle in my backpack as a paper book.  In fact, it may be easier because I can bring more than one book on the Kindle without taking up more space.

Are your real life friends readers too?  Do you notice what they are reading?

The Third Degree - Book Reviews - How Do You Like 'Em?

THE THIRD DEGREE

BOOK REVIEWS

HOW DO YOU LIKE ‘EM?

There are as many different styles of book reviews as colors in the big Crayola crayon box.  I like that because it would be really boring if we all wrote our reviews in the same style.  I like reading reviews that are like mine, but even better, I like reading reviews that are NOT like mine.

LONG OR SHORT

I see reviews that are a few short paragraphs and others with many long paragraphs.  I like both.  The short reviews get right to the point and say what the reviewer liked or didn’t like about the book.  The long reviews get into the juicy details and sometimes they even have quotes from the book.

I will read a review that is 100 paragraphs if it feels like the reviewer is sitting here talking to me. 

I looked back at my reviews and they tend to have four or five shortish paragraphs.  I guess that would put me somewhere in the middle for length.  Sometimes I have more to say than other times. 

TO GUSH OR NOT

There are no two ways about the fact that I gush about books and authors that I love.  If a book is THAT good, I am going to gush and I don’t feel embarrassed about it.  I’ve seen a few reviewers who apologize when they gush.  I say, open the floodgates and gush away!

SPOILERS

Big no-no.  This is the ONLY thing that I feel really strongly about for every review I read.  I do NOT want to read spoilers in a review.  In fact, if there is a book I am hoping to read, I try to only read the reviews of my trusted reviewers.  There’s no way I will blindly go to Amazon or goodreads to read random reviews.  That’s too risky.  I try very hard to keep spoilers out of the reviews I write and I hope I am doing a good job.

NITTY GRITTY

Besides the title and author, there are a whole bunch of other nitty gritty facts that reviewers include in their reviews.  I keep mine pretty simple, but I’ve seen some reviewers including lots more.  Some reviewers include links to the author’s web site, places where you can buy the book, the book trailer, and more.  I’m too lazy to do all that, but I think it’s great that some of y’all include all that. 

RATINGS

Most reviewers include a number rating in their review, but some do not.  I do.  I started out with a semi-complicated system with five rating categories and then an overall rating.  I got bored with it and moved to just an overall rating from two to five. 

I like number ratings because they give a quick snapshot of what the reviewer thought of the book.  I like the cute little pictures that some reviewers use for their ratings.  I also respect the choice some reviewers have made to not include a number rating, no matter what their reasoning is. 

SUMMARY

It seems like most of us reviewers are using goodreads for our summaries.  Did you know that I actually wrote my own summaries back at the very beginning?  Uh huh.  I didn’t know about the magic of goodreads back then and I wrote my own.  Then, I started using the cover flap and eventually goodreads.

Back to the topic.

I think it’s pretty universal to include a summary with a review.  Sometimes I see reviews that become summaries of their own.  I am guilty of doing this sometimes too, although I try my best not to.  I may get a whole paragraph typed out and then I’m like “that’s just a summary – where’s the review?  Ahhh!”   

How do you like your reviews?

The Third Degree - The Book Series

THE THIRD DEGREE

THE BOOK SERIES

Lately, it feels like most of the books I am reading are part of a series.  Is it the same way for you?  Every so often I come across a single title, but that seems to be happening less and less.

One thing that I love about books in a series is how the characters interplay from one book to the next.  Usually there are some characters who are present in every book, while others will come and go, and still others will be introduced along the way.  I like to see how they are all somehow related, either by family or by circumstance. 

Another thing that I love about books in a series is that each individual book is an opportunity for the plot to take a serious change in direction.  While maintaining some common themes, the separate books often have a plot that can stand alone.  I like the surprise of seeing just where each book will take the overall series plot.

Finally, I love when I get emotionally attached to the series itself.  My favorite series’ are the ones that have me clambering for the next book the second I finish the current book.  Oh, and when an awesome series ends, I feel sad and a little lost knowing that the story is over. 

One thing that I don’t like about books in a series is having to wait so long between books.  I realize that is just the way it is and it takes about a year to get the next book out, but oh my gosh sometimes it is so hard to wait – especially when the series is REALLY good. 

I have been a little lucky in this department in the past.  Since I am a newer reader of young adult books, sometimes I have been able to read an entire series (or at least the majority of it) back to back.  I read Harry Potter, Twilight (yes, I know), The Mediator, Blue Bloods, The Hunger Games, The Mortal Instruments and Maximum Ride this way.

Now, I am finding myself in a situation where I read the first book in 2010 and the second book is coming out in 2011.  I am prone to think that I should re-read the first book so the story and characters are fresh in my mind.  Is that what y’all do?  I feel like I need a do-over of the first book since it’s been so long.

Another thing that is sometimes frustrating about series books is that the first book can feel too much like a setup for the series as a whole.  It can feel too much like an information dump complete with lots of background and the setting of the stage.  I know we need some of that, but too much can be a drag. 

And you know what, sometimes I just want to read a book and be done with it.  I want to spend a day or two in the story and have everything resolved.  Maybe that is partly due to my age.  It seems like more middle grade books are single titles than part of a series.  They tell a story, entertain me, and then “The End.” 

Sometimes that’s all I am looking for.  The End.

The Third Degree - Spring Break 2010 vs 2011

THE THIRD DEGREE

Spring Break 2010 vs 2011

Spring Break week is here!  It is sunny and beautiful outside and I am super excited to have a little break from school.  In fact, the only homework I have is editing the film my group has been shooting these last few weeks.

Y’all know what that means.  I have lots and lots of time to read and blog about it.  I have a pile of books ready to read and a list of reviews that need to be typed.  Oh, and I will have plenty of time to visit your blogs and leave some comment love. 

This Spring Break is going to be so much different from last year’s Spring Break.

Last year, I also had a pile of books to read.  I plowed through them all and then we made a trip to the library to get some more.  And I read those too.  But that was all there was to it.  I would read one book after another after another.  

I didn’t have anyone to gush about my favorite books with.  No one to drool over the pretty covers with.  And no one to tell me which new books might be a good match for me. 

That all changed on the last day of Spring Break 2010.  After listening to me moan and groan about how boring it was to read just for myself, my parents had an idea.  A blog.

I didn’t even know what a blog was, and I sure didn’t know there were blogs about books.  So, we sat down and started searching the internet for book review blogs.  And we found some, and then some more, and then more than we could have ever imagined. I was in heaven!

That same day (March 21), I started Reading Vacation.  My Spring Breaks will never be boring again.  Please join me as I celebrate Reading Vacation’s first birthday starting on March 21.  I have some special posts, giveaways, and fun planned.

The Third Degree - My goodreads Bookshelves

THE THIRD DEGREE

My goodreads Bookshelves

I love watching the vlogs that some of the bloggers have posted of their bookshelves.  I decided to be different and post about my goodreads bookshelves.  Remember, I can be sneaky sometimes.

When I visit other goodreads profiles, I see so many different bookshelves.  Some readers will have shelves for different genres, years, age range, author, star rating, etc.  I have seen some funny ones like hall of disappointment, obsession worthy, should be a movie, and made me want to claw my eyes out.  Nice!

 

My bookshelves are more reserved.  Take a peek.

Wishlist

Books I want to read.  This has books that are already released as well as books that have not yet been released.  I update it often adding new books and removing books I have changed my mind about.  I want my wishlist to represent books I truly do intend to read.  I don’t want to end up with 589,273,401 books on my wishlist and I am only going to realistically read 200.

Own

Well, this one is self explanatory.  It has every type of book that I own.  Arcs, paper books, and eBooks.

eBooks

These are all sorts of eBooks.  They may be arcs or books I bought for my Kindle.  I really like to read on my Kindle and I can’t wait for NetGalley to get their Kindle option working again.  For now, I read those on my laptop, so it’s all cool.  Anyhow, I love eBooks.

Kindle To Lend

Some Kindle titles purchased through Amazon are lendable.  They can be loaned to another Kindle one time for 14 days.  This bookshelf has my lendable Kindle books that are still available for loan.

Debut Author 2011

I am using this bookshelf to keep track of books for the Debut Author Challenge.  I have read five so far and have a lot more to go.

To Read

This bookshelf makes NO SENSE to me.  Seriously.  But I have to use it because goodreads forces me to choose between “to read”, “currently reading”, and “read” when I add a new book.  So, it is books I have not read yet whether I own them or not.  I do not find that helpful.     

Come to think of it, I wish there was a way that goodreads would let me list off books that are on two different shelves.  For example, I would LOVE to be able to list books that are on both my “to read” and “own” list because that is what I consider my real-life to read list.

Currently Reading

Another self explanatory one.  I am a one-book kind of girl, although I sometimes read a paper book and an eBook at the same time.  I have fun updating my progress.

Read

Books move to this shelf after I finish reading them.

To Review

I use this bookshelf for books I finished reading, but I have not yet typed up the review.  Right now, there are five books on this shelf.  It drives me CrAzY to have more than three on this shelf.  It makes me feel behind and I like to type up my reviews while the book is still fresh in my mind.  This shelf is a place holder until the review is scheduled.

Review Scheduled

Once I have the review typed up, I move the book from “to review” to “review scheduled.”  I usually post the review on goodreads a day or two after it posts on my blog and then I take the book off this shelf.  So yeah, I use this shelf as a place holder too.

How do you organize your goodreads shelves?  What’s the craziest shelf name you’ve seen?

The Third Degree - Snow (Ice) Days

THE THIRD DEGREE

SNOW (ICE) DAYS

Photo credit to Webshots

Just last week I was bragging about it being 75 degrees here in the Dallas – Fort Worth area. It was like Springtime all sunny and warm.

Fast forward to this week - Super Bowl week. 

An ice storm hit early Tuesday morning. No school. Wednesday was the coldest day in the last TWENTY years. There were wind chills way below zero. No school. Today is Thursday and it is still below freezing. No school AGAIN. And get this, it may snow tomorrow.

This is unheard of. We normally get maybe (and I stress the maybe) one or two ice/snow days a year. Never three in a row. The ice usually melts the same day.

What is a girl to do? READ and BLOG of course! Here is how I’ve spent my time off.

READ

Secondhand Charm

How to Slay a Dragon

A few Maximum Ride Books...

School’s Out – Forever (hmmm, that’s ironic)

Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

The Final Warning

BLOG

Six Reviews

One Author Interview

One Guest Post

One Third Degree (you're reading it)

And I’m not done. I have all day today to add to that list. Maybe snow (ice) days aren’t so bad after all. Now, I’m off to make some hot chocolate.

The Third Degree - Middle School Update

THE THIRD DEGREE

MIDDLE SCHOOL UPDATE

If you are one of my newer visitors, let me take a minute to get you caught up. I started sixth grade, which is middle school in my district, in late August. I made THIS blog post all about it asking for advice.

Here is some of the great advice y‘all gave me.

Be nice to everyone.

Be yourself.

Be a good friend.

Go with the flow.

Have fun.

Since we are half-way through the school year, I thought it was the perfect time for an update.

On the academic front, I am doing great with my grades. All A’s. My classes are all challenging because they are accelerated – but that’s also what makes them fun. In language arts, we are making movies. (Remember my Best Screenplay Oscar win last year?) In science, we just finished a project where we created an alien with made-up body systems. That one was particularly difficult because it was a group assignment. In math, we spent some time on algebra, metrics, angles, ratios, and proportions. I am in a group with FIVE boys (including two mysterious new boys). Finally, in history, I did a big report on Israel and then we studied the middle ages.

Probably the only bad thing would be the homework. My gosh, sometimes it is reasonable, but other times it is way too much. That happens when they all have projects and tests going on at the same time. Homework overload! I have become an expert juggler. Plus, homework cuts into my reading time and we all know that makes me sad.

On the social side, I am so happy and relieved to have my best friends in my classes. There is a group of about six of us girls who have class together, eat lunch together, and beg the teacher to put us in groups together. We have all been in classes together since fourth grade, so we have gotten to be very close.

Guess what? Middle school is not much like it is portrayed in books – at least not from what I’ve seen. There is no Queen Bee, no clique of mean girls, no crazy teachers, no girls swooning over the boys (at least not in sixth grade), and no paranormal creatures lurking around the school.  

Guess what else? The things I worried about the most, getting to class on time and opening the lock on my locker, turned out to be non-issues. I am often the first one to class and my lock is super easy to open.

Overall, I would give my middle school experience an A (or is that 5 Stars?).

The Third Degree - Inappropriate Books

THE THIRD DEGREE

INAPPROPRIATE BOOKS

Every so often it happens.  I start reading a book and I’m really enjoying it.  The plot grabs my attention, I am starting to get attached to the characters, and then BAM, it turns inappropriate on me.  Bah!

Here’s how it works.  I will read the summary for a book on goodreads, the author’s site, or the publisher’s site.  If it looks good, I will read some reviews from bloggers I trust not to be spoilery.  Then, I have one of my parents do the same to see if they approve.  Sometimes I discover a book at the library that I haven’t heard of before and I’ll ask my parents to look it over to approve it on the spot.  Sometimes we end up putting a book back on the shelf and that's okay with me. 

As long as I have my parents blessing, then I get the book and start reading.  I realize what may be okay for me and my parents may not be okay for someone else my age and their parents.  Oh, and visa-versa. 

Sometimes I get burned though and the book still ends up being inappropriate after I start it.  It may be a cuss-fest or romantic scenes that are too mature.  Some of either is okay, but not if it’s over the top.  We realize YA is going to have some of that and my parents are okay as long as it's within reason.  There was one book that was just plain too scary for me. 

I was very disappointed when it happened last week.  I started a book, got nearly half-way through, and suddenly it was like I was reading a different book.  Usually it happens sooner, so it’s not as big of a deal.  This time, I was REALLY liking the story and was so far in before things changed.  I put it down and chose another book.  I felt like that one had a little false advertising since it changed so drastically half-way through.

That was a review book.  Now I have to tell the publisher why I didn’t finish the book and why I am not reviewing it.  I feel like I am letting them down, but I also know that I did the right thing by not finishing.  It’s an e-book, but if it were a paper book I would just pass it on to someone else who’s a little older.

Sometimes I want something more grown up than middle grade, but not as grown up as some of the more mature young adult books.  I would call it older middle grade or younger young adult.  OMG (not Oh My Gosh) or YYA for those who like acronyms.  Maybe I’m on to something.

The Third Degree - I Do Not Swoon

THE THIRD DEGREE

I DO NOT SWOON

Boys are weird.*  They can be annoying, they act StRaNgE, they try to show off, they talk about sports, and they don’t much interest me.  You see, since I’m eleven, I do not yet swoon over boys.  That goes for boys in real life AND boys in books. 

 

My lack of swooning is pretty obvious in my reviews.  I never say anything about a boy character being hot or swoon-worthy.  No way!  You won’t catch me saying that I want a certain boy character for my very own.  Na da!  I choose to focus on school and my grades instead.

That does not mean that I don’t notice these characters in other ways though.  Let me show you what I mean.

The Iron King

There was a lot of talk around the book blog world about Team Ash and Team Puck.  Some (okay….a lot) of the team members were choosing based on looks.  I was (and still am) a member of Team Puck.  From my review:

I chose to join Team Puck because he was there for Meghan all along.  Ash came across as being very cold.  Besides, Puck reminded me of my little brother, Travis, because he can be a little mischievous. 

SHIVER

Sam.  He was the wolf who was meant to be with Grace. I found him to be loyal, trustworthy, and completely devoted to Grace.  He sort of sounds like a pet, huh?  My words about Sam and Grace had nothing to do with swoon-worthiness:

They were in-tune with each other in every sense.  I have to believe that some of this is a special human and animal connection.

NIGHTSHADE

There were two wolves vying for Calla’s heart.  Ren and Shay were as different as sweet and sour, but everyone seemed to have a favorite.  I read lots of reviews where one or the other was being swooned over.  I liked them both, but possibly for different reasons than some of you.  See for yourself:

Ren, true to his alpha status, was impulsive, loyal, and strong.  His impulsive nature made him seem like a jerk sometimes at the beginning, but I grew to like him.  Ren really only had Calla’s best interests at heart.  Shay, although new to the whole wolf-thing, fit in well with Calla and he had a confident personality.

HUSH HUSH

What did you think of Patch?  Did you swoon for the mysterious bad-boy?  Here’s what I had to say:

Nora and Patch were an unlikely pair.  Nora was a rule-follower, was quietly social, and she was sort of a goody-two-shoes.  Patch, on the other hand, didn’t follow the rules, acted aloof, and was an all-around bad boy.  I guess opposites attract!

Ask me about swooning again in a few years and I will likely have a different opinion.  For now, I will just smile at the real life boys and read about the fairy tale ones in my books.  

*Disclaimer - Book blogging boys are not weird.