Reviewers do it with commentary.

I was looking back at the archives of our fine blog and I realized something didn't make sense. The blog was originally meant to be written by one person (that'd be me, MuzikMakers). There are now three people writing reviews. Basically, the first couple of entries don't clue anyone into that and so I thought I'd let everyone know what the big to do is.

SoothSays116 has been around for a little while now and has made some contributions. I did not give her a proper introduction, but I don't know that she'd want one (she tends to keep her Internet life rather anonymous). Being just as busy as I am, she hasn't had the chance to post much, but we love her contributions of wit and wisdom when she has the time.

I am proud to now announce that GypsyRose will be joining us as well. She has decided to make her first attempt at writing some bookish stuff and we are pleased to have her. She's an avid reader and will surely add to the overall reading pleasure of us all. Her first review will appear soon. Thanks for reading our blog and thanks for the comments. Enjoy!

Maybe it fits my multiple personalities.

I'm still reading Eugenides' Middlesex. For some reason, my reading is slow, but the book is enthralling. There are three plot lines weaving throughout the narration. The protagonist is telling the story of his grandparents while simultaneously talking about his own past and present. I am amazed at how quickly the narration jumps from one time period to the next, but I'm even more shocked at how easy it is to follow.

These types of changes - the going back and forth between stories with barely a pause - they are the bees knees for me (that's right, the bees knees). One of my most treasured experiences in reading is during Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. In Chapter 3, there are three different scenes taking place, one after the other. At first, each goes on for pages. Gradually, they begin to intertwine, and take up only paragraphs, but are still separated. As each scene only gets sentences, they begin to crash into one another, follow each other, and push to keep attention. It's absolutely gorgeous. I think I read it three or four times before I could move on to the next chapter.

Though in a completely different pattern and presentation, Middlesex is kind of like that. One story is prominent right now, but every once in a while, another will cross and step in, even if for just a moment. I don't know whether they'll crash or simply begin flowing into one another, eventually allowing another plot line to overcome as the story progresses, but it's thrilling to watch them roll back and forth. The reading is seamless, but the moments are all over the place. I'm in love.

A hiatus efficiently broken.

The class that I was taking ended. As you can imagine, with all the reading that had to be completed in such a short period of time, I had to take a little break. I had all these graphic novels and young adult books sitting around that I wanted to read, but I couldn't bring myself to pick any of them up. It was just too much kid lit at once. On my way to the airport for a trip back home after some time away from reading, I decided it was time to discontinue both my time off from literary adventures and the streak I've had with young adult stuff, and I'm doing it with a bang.

A friend recommended Middlesex to me; though, I have to admit that I've been eyeing it for some time. The cover and title of Jeffrey Eugenides' book are both intriguing and mysteriously alarming; I was intrigued. As I boarded the plane for my journey, I was exhausted and was thinking about just sleeping for most of the flight, but as the plane took off, I cracked the spine anyway. The first paragraph cued me into the fact that it was time to nap because the reading was going to be heavy, but also that this was going to be an incredible book. Though sleepiness forced the book closed at the time, I've never been so drawn in by the opening of a novel. I think you'll understand what I mean:

I was born twice: first, as a baby girl, on a remarkably smogless Detroit day in January 1960; and then again, as a teenage boy, in an emergency room near Petoskey, Michigan, in August 1974. Specialized readers may have come across me in Dr. Peter Luce's study, "Gender Identity in 5-Alpha-Reductase Psuedo- hermaphrodites," published in the Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology in 1975. Or maybe you've seen my photograph in chapter sixteen of the now sadly outdated Genetics and Heredity. That's me on page 578, standing naked beside a height chart with a black box covering my eyes.

How could I not feel suddenly sucked into that world and want to know more. In one short paragraph is a history, with holes begging to be filled. After so much lighter fare, this might take me a little longer to read, but I have a feeling I'll enjoy it immensely.

The books for now.

I am currently getting my Masters in Library Science (MLS). My course of study is centered around becoming a school media specialist, probably in middle school. Whether that actually happens is up for debate, as it seems everyday the public library atmosphere looks more and more appealing. But I digress.

This summer, I'm taking a class on Young Adult (YA) literature. It's being taught by Deborah Taylor, whom I now consider to be a genius in the field. She has been on the selection team for numerous awards committees for YA lit, including (among others) the Best Books for Young Adults, the Michael L. Printz Award, Capitol Choices, and the Coretta Scott King Award. Basically, she's a rock star and the class is fantastic.

This blog is essentially starting because of the work I have to do for this class. We are required to read more than a dozen YA works over the course of six weeks or so. Most of them are for a final project on a theme of our choice. The rest are assigned to help us get a sampling of some of the different types of material out there.

All this is by means of saying that for the next few weeks, the only things I'll be reading are going to be YA lit, and I absolutely love it. One of my roommates and I were talking about it, and YA books are freakin' awesome. It's kind of like watching an hour long television show. You get something better than your typical sitcom, but it's not as involved or as lengthy as a feature length film. Plus, if you have a DVD and you get to take out the commercials (which is like adding pictures instead of more text in a YA book) it's even shorter and more enjoyable.

The theme I've decided on for my project is biographies and autobiographies in graphic format. I'm completely psyched and can't wait to do some writing on it. Having never read a graphic novel in my life, it will be an interesting experience. I had no idea there was such a broad field with so many variants. Though I knew graphic novels existed (The Sandman being the only one I had ever really seen), I certainly didn't realize there are people's life stories floating around in comics. Some of them really are incredible. It goes far beyond the boundaries of superheroes and villains.

Later, once class is over and I have my summer of pure pleasure reading back, I'll maybe delve into some other stuff. I've been thinking about retrospectively reviewing some of the books I recently read before starting this blog. At least, some of the ones I've hated and loved most. I have a feeling though, that YA lit might dominate my reviewing for a little while. I'm really getting a kick out of the field and there's just so much new, great stuff to get into. However, I usually require as much variety as possible, so we'll see how it goes. Some time in the future, I might make an attempt to separate out genres, formats, or reading levels, but for now it's all going to stay in one place.

Why am I doing this?

Because I feel like it. I admit, there's a lot of selfishness involved in this one. But at the same time, anyone who stops by more than a few times and gets to know my taste in literature might benefit from this blog as well. You never know.

Mostly though, the more I read, the more I want some way to really remember the things that I've read. A good friend told me that I should write in my books. While reading, write in the margins, underline words, and throw out exclamation points when something screams at you and makes you feel (sidenote: I hate exclamation points). This seemed like a great idea. I tried it in one book, The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I failed miserably. By page 50, the pen was gone and I no longer cared, I just wanted to read. I just didn't enjoy it. I'm in grad school and there is an abundance of reading I have to do for class every week. The highlighters and pens sit by my side as I go through all that grossly academic material. Writing in books that I read for fun suddenly felt like homework and I almost immediately stopped feeling the pleasure in pleasure reading.

I'm going to try this for a little while and see how it goes. It was going to be a journal on my computer, but I thought, why keep it to myself when I can publish it in glorious splendor? Becuase, you know, everyone that blogs eventually gets a book deal or becomes a highly demanded freelancer for The New Yorker. I also figured that creating a blog might help to keep me going. Readers or not, it requires a certain amount of effort and maintenance that I might not put forth as readily if it were just my own thing. And hell, someone else might enjoy it along the way.

So press on my fellow readers. Let me know your thoughts about what I've said and give me some recommendations in return. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing it.