quotes Elisquared likes


"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."— John Green

9.30.2015

Banned Books Week 2015 - 8 of My Favorite YA Banned Books

This year, Banned Books Week is centered around Young Adult books.  “Young Adult books are challenged more frequently than any other type of book,” said Judith Platt, chair of the Banned Books Week National Committee.  Most of the time this challenges are issued from parents who "claim" to be concerned for the students' delicate sensibilities.  YA titles were on the list of the Top Ten Most Challenged Books of 2014, according to the American Library Association. 

The problem with parents trying to dictate what should and should not be read is two-fold: first, they are not educational professional who often (I know this may not be 100% of the time) vett the book to utilize for an educational purpose, and second, they don't just attempt to stop their own child from reading the book, but all the children.  I have a major problem with both of these issues: please don't interfere with the learning process of every child in the class; while parents have a right to review what their child is being exposed to, they do not have that right for all the other children.  Let those kids parents make those determinations for themselves.  Additionally, unless you've had a frank and in-depth conversation with the educator about why the book was chosen, don't fly off the handle.  Teachers are not out to harm students, but to expand their outlook on the world, which is often reflected in the challenged material.

So below I've highlighted EIGHT of my favorite recently banned Young Adult Books!  Each is fantastic and really do have something to highlight for the reader about the real world we live in, even when set in a dystopian such as The Hunger Games or a murder-thriller such as I Hunt Killers.


9.29.2015

Banned Books Week 2015 - The Videos

It's that time again, the time to celebrate books, freedom, and expression!  
To celebrate those books that people try to remove from library shelves and from readers' hands.  
To celebrate the words written by authors looking to tell their/a/the story that needs to be told.  
To celebrate the ideals and experiences that reflect our real life.  
To celebrate BANNED BOOKS!

So let's set the tone with this awesome collection of Banned Book videos!






If you support reading Banned Books, then check out Banned Books Week to get more info about what you can do to help stop censorship and the banning of books (which yes, still does happen)!


9.28.2015

BANNED BOOKS WEEK PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and
WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and
WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and
WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and
WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and
WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and
WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and
WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and
WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and
WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and
WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that the blog Eli to the nth celebrates the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, and be it further
RESOLVED, that the blog Eli to the nth encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the blog Eli to the nth encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

Adopted by the blog Eli to the nth
9/28/15 
Tampa, FL

9.24.2015

Walk on Earth a Stranger Release Day Celebration



I'm a little late on helping to celebrate that WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER by Rae Carson released on Tuesday, September 22.  But I figure better late than never!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful new series by Rae Carson, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for a set of the GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS series.  So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.



WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER


September 22, 2015


448 pages



The first book in a new trilogy from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Rae Carson. A young woman with the magical ability to sense the presence of gold must flee her home, taking her on a sweeping and dangerous journey across Gold Rush–era America.

Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could such a magical girl find herself, find safety? Rae Carson, author of the acclaimed Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, dazzles with this new fantasy that subverts both our own history and familiar fantasy tropes.

Walk on Earth a Stranger, the first book in this new trilogy, introduces—as only Rae Carson can—a strong heroine, a perilous road, a fantastical twist, and a slow-burning romance. Includes a map and author’s note on historical research. 

Read Chapter One of WALK ON EARTH A STRANGER annotated by Rae Carson HERE!

Rae Carson is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the acclaimed Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy. Her next book, Walk On Earth A Stranger, will be available September 22, 2015. She lives in Arizona with her husband.

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads


Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a set of the GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS series 

Paperback format. 

US Only.

Ends on September 30th at Midnight EST!


9.22.2015

Top Ten Tuesday (43)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because they are particularly fond of lists there at The Broke and the Bookish. They'd love us to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!
Each week they will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of their bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All they ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on their post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share.  If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. 
The topic this week is:
Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR
So if you've been sticking with me here (thanks by the way) you know that I have not been reading much this year and it was bumming me out!  Well I am changing that this Fall and I have some very exciting books planned for my Fall TBR list, some of which are brand new and some of which are a little old, but ALL exciting to me!

The Wrath and the Dawn Renee Ahdieh
I'm really excited to read this take on the Shahrzad story!  I need to read more books set in this part of the world, and I'm happy to add this bit of diversity to my TBR pile!

Frostborn by Lou Anders
I got to meet Lou Anders at DragonCon this Labor Day Weekend, and he was so awesome!  I'm really intrigued by the main character of story because she's half human HALF FROST GIANTESS!! What?! Awesome!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Another book set in the Grisha Universe?  YES PLEASE!! GIMME GIMME GIMME!  If you haven't had a chance to read the first series from Bardugo, you MUST go out and devour so you can be all set up to immerse yourself once again!!!

I adored the short story this is based on, and I want to read more about this town and people in it!  Holly Black is an amazing author, so I know I'm going to love this book.

Lair of Dreams by Libba Bray 
The Diviners was one of my top books of 2012, and I have been waiting very patiently to get the next one in the series.  LIKE SO PATIENTLY I SHOULD GET A MEDAL!!  Now I have an excuse to re-read The Diviners because man do I need an refresher (3 YEARS!!!!)

Salvage by Alexandra Duncan 
I met Alexandra Duncan at DragonCon as well, and she is just super sweet!  There aren't a lot of good YA scifi out there, but I've been told that Salvage is one of the best.  From the book description I'd ave to agree!

Violent Ends edited by Shaun David Hutchinson 
Again, another author I met at DragonCon, I've been wanting to pick this book up since it came on my radar.  It is a collection of short stories all told from different view points during a school shooting.  I think it's going to be heartbreaking and impactful!

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner 
Speaking of scifi, I haven't yet been able to read this book and I know people love it!  I love romance and space, so this seems right up my alley!

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Speaking of books that people are crazy for and I haven't started, I need to read the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Maas.  I know, I know, where have I been?  But I've heard nothing of crazed fangirl squees so I know I'm in for a really good time with this one!

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
And last, but not least, I need to read the second book in the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children series before the third book comes out...today...well I'll get it done soon anyway!  Love this creeptastic series, well written and a very fun adventure.



Well those are my Top Ten Books on my Fall TBR.  Some are old, some are new, but all are great! Let me know what your Top Ten Books for your Fall TBR are by leaving a comment below!



9.18.2015

Release Week Blitz: HOOK’S REVENGE: THE PIRATE CODE by Heidi Schulz (+Giveaway)



I am excited to be a part of the Release Week Blitz for THE PIRATE CODE by Heidi Schulz.  It released September 15 and it looks super cute and fun!

If you haven’t yet heard about this wonderful series by Heidi Schulz, be sure to check out all the details below.

This blitz also includes a giveaway for copies of both HOOK’S REVENGE books! US only. So if you’d like a chance to win, enter in the Rafflecopter at the bottom of this post.


THE PIRATE CODE: HOOK'S REVENGE

September 15, 2015
352 Pages
Hardcover, eBook


Fresh off a fearsome encounter with the Neverland crocodile, Jocelyn Hook decides the most practical plan is to hunt down her father's famous fortune. After all, she'll need the gold to fund her adventuring in the future. (And luckily, Hook left her the map.)

But the map proves to be a bit harder to crack than Jocelyn had hoped, and she's convinced that the horrible Peter Pan might be the only one with the answers. Of course, he doesn't really feel like helping her, so Jocelyn takes the only reasonable course of action left to her: she kidnaps his mother. Evie, though, is absolutely thrilled to be taken prisoner, so Jocelyn's daring ploy doesn't have quite the effect she'd planned for.

Along with the problem of her all-too-willing captive, Jocelyn must also contend with Captain Krueger, whose general policy is that no deed is too dastardly when it comes to stealing Hook's treasure. And with the ever-shifting Whens of the Neverland working against her as well, Jocelyn, Evie, Roger, and the rest of the Hook's Revenge crew have their work cut out for them.

In this rambunctious showdown between characters new and old, Jocelyn puts her own brand of pirating to the test in a quest to save her future and those she loves.



Heidi Schulz is a writer, reader, and giraffe suspicioner. She lives in Salem, Oregon with her husband, co-captaining a crew made of their teen daughter, a terrible little dog, and five irascible chickens. Her debut novel for middle grade readers, HOOK’S REVENGE, published by Disney•Hyperion, was a Bank Street Best book, among the New York Public Library’s Top 100 Titles for Children in 2014, and an OCTE Oregon Spirit Honor Book. A sequel, HOOK’S REVENGE: THE PIRATE CODE, was published in September 2015. Bloomsbury Kids will publish her picture book debut, GIRAFFES RUIN EVERYTHING, in Spring 2016.

Connect with the author
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | GOODREADS | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | INSTAGRAM


Giveaway Details

1 winner will receive both HOOKS’S REVENGE Books. 

US Only.

Ends on September 25th at Midnight EST!



9.14.2015

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (Review + Giveaway)

Title: Uprooted
Author(s): Naomi Novik
Edition: ARC, 438 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Publication Date: May 19, 2015
Source: Goodreads First Reads
Buy: Amazon Barnes & Noble - Book Depository














The Summary


“Our Dragon doesn’t eat the girls he takes, no matter what stories they tell outside our valley. We hear them sometimes, from travelers passing through. They talk as though we were doing human sacrifice, and he were a real dragon. Of course that’s not true: he may be a wizard and immortal, but he’s still a man, and our fathers would band together and kill him if he wanted to eat one of us every ten years. He protects us against the Wood, and we’re grateful, but not that grateful.”

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted Wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, driven wizard known only as the Dragon to keep its powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as falling to the Wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows—everyone knows—that the Dragon will take Kasia: beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, all the things Agnieszka isn’t, and her dearest friend in the world. And there is no way to save her.

But Agnieszka fears the wrong things. For when the Dragon comes, it is not Kasia he will choose.

My Opinion


I LOVED THIS BOOK!  

I'm sorry I had to get that out of the way.  Uprooted is hands down one of the best books I've read in recent years.  It is all-encompassing; as I read I felt the world spring up around me, engulfing me in the magic of the prose.  At all times both familiar and foreign, Uprooted takes you deep into the heart of Agnieszka's journey to save herself, her friends, and her family from harm.

This is not like any other fantasy book I've read recently.  Naomi Novik does an an amazing job of mixing the elements of high fantasy with accessible prose, which, let's be honest, does not happen that often.  The world building delves the reader into that high fantasy epic, but it is the characters that keep us grounded in the familiar.  I think this makes Uprooted a book that people who don't typically like to read fantasy would enjoy.

Agnieszka starts off unsure and hesitant, but as she has to fight for the people she loves not only does her power grow, but her strength of character.  You think, at first, that she's going to be turned into that "perfect girl", the one who transforms from the frumpy tomboy to the sleek beauty.  But that is not who Agnieszka is, and while she isn't frumpy she definitely doesn't mind getting dirty and pays little mind to fancy trappings.  I found this really refreshing, because to be powerful she doesn't need to change who she is, and to be commanding she doesn't need to sacrifice her own principles.  In fact this is what makes her as strong as she is.  Her heart, in each decision Agnieszka makes, is always front and center.  This can cause problems, but it always guides her through the other side.

Another aspect of the characterization is the relationship between Agnieszka and her best friend Kasia.  As you read from the summary, Kasia was thought to be picked as the next servant to the Dragon, but that doesn't happen.  Typically in this situation the best friends become enemies over jealousy, but that doesn't happen between Agnieszka and Kasia, which was just so great.  It read very true and highlighted the bonds that friends who have lived in each other's pocket their whole lives really develop.  Without this relationship, the story would be lacking real feeling, for the love the girls share is tantamount to the journey they have to face.

The underlying mythology is based on a Polish folktale with Novik's own spin on it.  That's the atmosphere when you read the book, very eastern European, reminiscent of the Brothers Grimm fairytales.  The Wood, which is the evil entity in the book, has so much wrapped up in it, and there are so many different things you learn about it, that it's hard to always think of it as EVIL.  The Wood is used to show what hate and betrayal can do to a person's soul, and really brought a complicated layer to what could have been a straight forward "bad wood, must destroy" plot.

It's hard to really review this book properly because I just fell right into the story.  When I read a book like that, I can't always explain how it made me feel properly, or the aspects of the story that really resonated.  I just really encourage you all to give this one a try, even if you don't usually read fantasy.  Uprooted has moved me like no other book as in years, and it restarted my reading appetite when it was dormant for the last year.  If that doesn't sell you, I don't know what will.  

Uprooted by Naomi Novik is my absolute, hands-down, number 1 book for 2015 and you'll be missing out when all the cool kids read it if you don't run right now and snag a copy (enter below for a chance to win one of your very own)!!!

Extras




Naomi Novik's Other Books:
Temeraire Series

Final Rating

Book Cover: 4/5
Book Title: 5/5
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Writing: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Overall: 49/50: A+

Giveaway




     TERMS
  • Giveaway runs from September 14 - September 21, 2015
  • Open only to US residents  
  • No INT entries
  • Must be at least 13 years old to enter.  
  • ONE winner will win a finished copy of Uprooted
  • Winner will be contacted by email to inform them they won.
  • Winner has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or a new winner will be chosen.  
  • NO PO BOXES as prizes tend to be lost when sent there.
  • I claim no responsibility for lost prizes.
  • Once package arrives to recipient personal information (i.e. address) is deleted.

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