Obsession of the Month, or Reasons Why Melina Marchetta is Awesome

Throughout January, I reread all of Melina Marchetta's novels. Well, all of them I had could get my hands on...which means all but Looking for Alibrandi (couldn't find it at the library) and The Piper's Son (not yet released in the US).

In the middle of the night, I started a blog post about...

REASONS WHY MELINA MARCHETTA IS AWESOME

And now I've just finished it, and I've decided to share them with you. Yaaay!

1) Her dialogue: It's smart. It's snappy. Like a good play, it always brings the plot or the character development forward. Also, in Jellicoe Road, Taylor plays with words as fantastically as Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

2) Her heroines: Marchetta creates characters you just KNOW in a deep way. They're real the way that Cleopatra and King Arthur are real - realistic/based on historical fact and also larger-than-life/mythological. Her heroines are ruthless, capable, damaged, and vulnerable. Marchetta gave Taylor - the MC of Jellicoe Road - asthmatic, as well as contrary, stubborn, and independent, but it's the asthmatic part that led to quasi-romantic scenes that make my heart squee. P.S. She gives the female MCs the most hurtful lines, and the MCs ALWAYS use them on the love-interests. (It almost happens in Saving Francesca, but she perfects it in Jellicoe Road and Finnikin of the Rock.) Is it wrong that I think that's awesome beyond words?

3) Rereading: If your memory is good, rereading can literally break your heart, because you actually know what's going on. With the mystery spoiled, all clues become foreshadowing, and it's like watching a car crash in slow motion - without being able to stop a thing. But in a good way. In a satisfying fiction way.

4) The plot: Inevitable and unforeseeable. I rarely read for plots. I don't mean to brag, but I have a knack for figuring out the ending after watching the set-up, at least four times out of five. Watching NCIS, I guess the killer in the first 10 minutes. Books aren't all that much different.

But Marchetta's books sucker punch me every time. Sucker punch, because I should've seen it coming and I NEVER do. And I love Marchetta for it.

5) Melina Marchetta: her name is so cool. I know she probably can't take credit for it, but it's awesome. Have you said it outloud yet? It rolls off the tongue like Pop Rocks. It's just fun to say.

6) The friendships: The truth is that in Melina Marchetta's universe - and sometimes, ours too - people arrive already broken by the ripe old age of sixteen or seventeen. It's an old, overdone story at this point, and I've just stopped reading these stories b/c they depress me to tears. And I do mean that literally.

But Marchetta does something brilliant: she pairs these broken characters together and makes them whole again - not all the time, but usually. And the truly brilliant part is that those whole-making relationships don't end with just the love-interests as they do in so many YAs today. It's the new friendships too.


7) Themes: over and over again, Marchetta weaves in one of my favorite themes: the younger generation tackling the same problems that the older generation succumbed to, and conquering them, simply because the young dream bigger and brighter than their parents.

For example, in Finnikin of the Rock, Finn (the MC) and his father (who's been imprisoned for about a decade) are trying to escape from some nasty prison guards. They hit a roadblock, and Finn's father is all for sacrificing himself to save Finn.

"Finn, listen!" Trevanion said, his voice raw. "I prayed to see you one more time. It's all I prayed for. Nothing more. And my prayers were answered. Go east, I'll lead them west."

"We have a dilemma, then," Finn said fiercely. "Because I prayed that you would grow old and hold my children in your arms as you held me. My prayers have not been answered yet, Trevanion. So whose prayer is more worthy? Yours or mine?"

SQUEE!!!!

(Okay, maybe you need to read the whole book for this passage to have more impact. But trust me - it's awesome.)

The Piper's Son comes out in just less than one month...

Can't wait. Can't wait. Can't wait!

(But the real question is, Will I have time to read it? Sigh.)

Faves of 2010: The Year In Reading

First off,

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE, EVERYONE!!!

But secondly, I have a confession: I made an Excel spreadsheet of all the books I read this year.

(I debated admitting it, you know. I don't want to seem totally weird - like a neat freak, who organizes obsessively. I didn't always make a list of the books I'd read. Definitely not when I was in school. Or even when I started working in the publishing industry. But sometime last year, I started listing what I read in the back of my journal. And this year, I up'ed the OCD-ness with Excel: noting the title, the author, the date I finished, the intended age group, whether or not it was part of a series, whether or not I'd read it before, whether I read the book for fun or for a specific project, and also, just for kicks, fiction or non-fiction.

See why I was hesitant to mention it? Now, the depths of my weirdness have been revealed. My good friend Angela would say that I did it because I am a Virgo. Sigh. I always thought Virgos were the most boring sign ever. This may prove it.)

But because of Excel, I have some stats to share with you:

In 2010, I read a total of 104 books. Muahahahahaha. (Yes, I proud of myself. I reached my 100 book goal). :-D

But another confession: Yes, I snuck in 29 books I'd read before. Many people can't stand to re-read books or re-watch movies. I am definitely not one of those people. I have lost count of how many times I've read certain favorites, such as Gail Carson Levine's Ella Enchanted, Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel, and the Harry Potter series (both of which I did indeed read again this year).

I read 47 middle-grade books, well more than any other age group. Since it's my fav, I'm totally not shocked by this. I was surprised that the age group in second place was actually Adult books (37), and I actually read fewest books in the YA category (20).

But 17 books were nonfiction! FYI, that's ridiculously high for me.

Last but not least, I have some awards to give out. These are not necessarily the best of the year, because I'm really way too particular to judge that. But these are definitely, without further ado, my....

FAVORITE READS OF 2010

FAVORITE REREAD
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

You know when you read a book, and it's like taking a much-needed vacation with some of your favorite people? For me, this book was like taking that vacation again - with the added comfort of familiarity.

FAVORITE YA CONTEMPORARY
The DUFF, by Kody Keplinger

I know. I told you all about this book already here. But seriously, it's completely fantastic. The main character feels like someone you've known your whole life...and somebody you want to keep around for the rest of it too. :-)

FAVORITE NONFICTION
Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother & Daughter Journey to the Sacred Places of Greece, Turkey, and France, by Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Kidd Taylor

No description necessary here, because the memoir's subtitle really says it all. :-P It's a very good book in its own right, but I love this one for entirely personal reasons: a) I was in a traveling mood when I bought it, and b) after I read it, I passed it onto my mother, who enjoyed it too.

FAVORITE ADULT FICTION
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, by Helen Simonson

This one came from my ex-roomie Angela - a birthday present. I put it off for months (we usually have very different tastes in books), but she kept asking if I'd read it yet. So, I did. Wonderful! Totally worth the first hundred or so pages of slow "good manners" Britishness.

"It reminds you that love really can conquer all," Angela told me when she handed it over, and the book also shows you how love can transform you and your entire life - even if you're a widower passing your retirement in a tiny, conservative English village.

Honorable Mentions: Garth Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain and Carlos Ruis Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind

FAVORITE MIDDLE GRADE
A Tale Dark and Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz

Jo kindly gave it to me this galley, because she knew it was totally my cup of tea. And OMG, I loved it. It has old school fairy tales (which means blood, gore, and very brave kids), but the narrator's voice makes it fresh and new. Gidwitz brings the old stories to life so well goosebumps sprout on your arms - as only the best storytellers can do.

Honorable Mentions: Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me and Neil Gaiman's Coraline

FAVORITE YA FANTASY
Finnikin of the Rock, by Melina Marchetta

I left this one for last, because I don't know how to describe it...besides just saying, awesome, Awesome, AWESOME! That's generally what happens when I want to talk about any of Marchetta's novels: every page packs a punch, the plot carries a million different subplots, and her characters are so layered, so complex, and so real that the book hits you at your core.

I read this somewhere: a great book is the one that alters you and your perception of the book's subject forever. I can't think about a young monarch assuming a throne - one of my favorite fantasy plots, btw - without thinking of Finnikin of the Rock and all its themes.

Go read it.

Actually, go read them all. :-)

Okay, I think I'm gonna go be a geek, grab a book, and read until 2011 rolls in.

In case I don't get around to it tomorrow,

Happy New Year!!!