May 2016 #OABookClub: Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Welcome back! In May and in honor of our MG Pass or Pages, the members of Operation Awesome read Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.

Kara

I hate to say that I was disappointed by Tuck Everlasting. I was so excited by the premise; immortality in any shape or form is guaranteed to catch my attention, but I felt that so much of this premise was wasted. Not only were the Tucks super boring, they were wasting immortality! They could have done so much with their longevity, and instead they just spent it in hiding. I much prefer the way the vampires in Twilight, for example, spend their eternity: learning new languages and skills, and helping the community.

I wanted much more exploration of what immortality meant to the characters. I liked the older brother’s sadness at the loss of his family, and I wanted to know more about how immortality affected the other members of the Tuck family. Apparently it turned the younger brother into a perv; the way he treated 10-year-old Winnie made my skin crawl. I’m glad that in the end, she chose not to drink the magical water.

The prose was beautiful, I will say that. But overall, I would prefer a lot more action in place of so much description.

Katrina

Ever since watching the movie as a teen, I have been wanting to read this book. When it popped up at a library sale for 25 cents, I swiped it up as quick as I could! Now I wonder why it took me so long to read it!

The poetry of the words alone is worth the read! The overarching theme of the wheel of time and interdependence of life, and the clever descriptions also make it deep, thought-provoking, and entertaining. The toad may have been my favorite character. Isn't he just like Tuck himself? Very touching ending.

I do think if I read this as a child I would not have appreciated the ending, but I certainly do now, as a mother. To be frozen at 17 seems an awful curse when I think how much joy I'd have missed without aging through motherhood. Very thought-provoking.

Samantha

I didn't love this book, nor did I hate it. It was kind of meh, but then again, I don't read much MG. When I do, I have an eye toward whether I think my 21-month-old will eventually like it. I think she will, but I found it slow going, especially the beginning. The descriptions dragged on and I kept wanting them to get to the point. And, to be honest, I still don't get why the Tucks kidnapped a little girl, but she did get to have a nice adventure, so there's that.

The one thing bothered me was the promise of gaining immortality at seventeen. I know that as a ten-year-old, seventeen seemed like the perfect age: so grown-up, but not ancient and withered like my parents. (And I had my daughter three years later than my mom had me--yikes!) But as an adult, stopping growth at seventeen seems horrifying, unless emotional growth keeps going.

I'll take immortality in my late twenties, please and thank you.

***

June's Operation Awesome Book of the Month

In June, we're reading Me Before You by JoJo Moyes.

Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn't know is she's about to lose her job or that knowing what's coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he's going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn't know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they're going to change the other for all time.

Come back on Friday, July 1, to discuss what you thought of the book!

#LesMisRead2016 Update from Samantha

I'm finally all caught up again, although it helped that I skimmed the chapter on the nuns. I might have paid more attention if it was a real order of nuns, but apparently Hugo decided to make them up, according to the translator's note before the book. It was a little bit weird, to be honest, and almost seemed like he was projecting some kind of fantasy onto these fictional women, but maybe I'm being unkind.

On the whole, I'm liking the actual story. Cosette's story is heart-breaking, and I'm so glad that Jean Valjean rescued her. She didn't deserve all the horrible things those people did to her. It was a little mean of him to use Madame T-whatever to keep her quiet when they were being chased by the police, although I understand why he did it. But there's still more than half the book remaining, so I imagine (or, well, hope!) that their troubles aren't over.

Thanks for stopping by. Let us know what you thought of Tuck Everlasting in the comments!

February 2016 #OABookClub: The Martian by Andy Weir

Hello and welcome to our second month of #OABookClub. Based on its insane popularity right now (and, really, how great of a book it is), we chose The Martian by Andy Weir. If you read it, we'd love for you to join in the discussion.

Kara

My favorite thing about The Martian was definitely the voice. Second, the drama created by us getting to see what was happening on Mars AND Earth. Third favorite was the fact that I didn't know what would happen to Mark until literally the second he was saved. I love not guessing the endings of books.

I can't put my finger on why exactly I loved Mark's voice, but he felt completely real to me as a character the entire time. The data entry logs worked for me, even though it is kind of like epistolary storytelling, which I usually hate. I guess it just didn't feel forced or contrived to me. It felt like the perfect way to tell Mark's side of the story. Even with all the science stuff. Look, I've got a MS, and I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but man, the science was off-puttingly dense. It made perfect sense that it would be there, because that's how Mark would think, but I'll be honest: after the first 75 pages or so I just skimmed those sections. It was easy to do, and I recommend that way of reading it to everyone I recommend the book to.

Getting to see Earth's side of the story was also awesome, for me. It really upped the tension, knowing what NASA could see that Mark couldn't. I liked those characters, as well.

Finally, because Andy Weir did such a good job of running Mark through the wringer all throughout the book, I thought there was a very good chance he'd die while trying to be saved. I really wasn't convinced that he'd live until they pulled him onto the ship. And that's my favorite kind of ending--surprisingly happy.

4 out of 5 stars (I knocked one off for the technobabble, because really, it could have been summed up)

Find Kara on Twitter here.

Katrina

As a survival story, The Martian is exciting and interesting, with the main character coming up with complex solutions to his life-and-death problems, all while making the rest of us feel impressed because we'd never have thought of them, or dared to attempt them.

His voice, however, took some getting used to, and even though I watched him go through quite a lot of trauma, I couldn't connect with him emotionally as a main character. In fact, at times the heavy detail reminded me of the thick exposition in Jules Verne or Dan Brown. So if that's your cup of tea, you'll appreciate this on a level I don't play at.

I might have enjoyed it better in serial format, the way Verne's similarly detail-rich adventures were published, although no format would have made me comfortable with the amount of profanity used by all the characters. Not my particular cup of tea.

Find Katrina on Twitter here.

Samantha

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an astronaut. Despite that I have bad eyesight and loathe exercise, a part of me still believes that maybe, just maybe, I could have been an astronaut, ya know, if I'd really applied myself. Or gone back to grad school. Or whatevs.

This book speaks to that little girl inside me.

I loved how accessible the voice was. The whole time, he was just all, "Hey, I'm a regular person, just like the rest of you, even if I have the most badass job on the planet in the solar system." And the journal format was great. I love unique storytelling like that.

The only thing I have a slight complaint about was the detailed math he included. At first, I started running through the numbers with him (in my head--I didn't whip out a calculator or anything) (OK, maybe I was telling myself I could run through the math if I wanted to), but after a while, it was slowing down the story. Especially as things heated up, it was distracting. I just wanted to get on with it. But still, it was interesting that the author proved that all this is possible. That's the appeal of the book, I think. Knowing it could be true, perhaps even today.

Overall, I loved it.

Find Samantha on Twitter here.

Wendy

The Martian by Andy Weir was one of my favorite sci-fi books I read last year. Looking back, what really sticks with me is the vast amount of real science and math that went into solving the problems of fictional astronaut Mark Watney as he finds himself stranded and alone on the red planet. The xkcd comic below really sums up my thoughts on it perfectly --

​And yet, even if the science goes way over your head (I know a lot of the physics did for me), I think readers can also appreciate the story's sense of adventure and the narrator's humor (that goes a long way to lighten up what could have been a really hopeless situation). At its heart, it's a survival story where the unique elements of the environment vie against human hope and ingenuity.

Find Wendy on Twitter here.

So what did you think? Chat with us in the comments below!

March's Operation Awesome Book of the Month

For this month, we're heading from a few years in the future to a few decades in the past.

'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.'

Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.

Join us! We'll be posting comments on Monday, April 4, so come back then and let us know what you thought.

Click to Tweet: I'm reading EMMA by Jane Austen in March for @OpAwesome6's #OABookClub. Join me?

And finally, before you go...

#LesMisRead2016 Update from Samantha

I'm still on track with Les Miserables, so I'm quite pleased with myself. I struggled with the last classic I read, and now that I'm taking my time with this one, I'm pretty sure it's my need for speed that got in the way. 3.3 pages a day isn't bad, and even if I don't read all week, it doesn't take that long to get caught up on a weekend. Trying to get something read as soon as possible inherently makes it unenjoyable.

In terms of the story itself, it's interesting that just when I think the story is dragging, something dramatic happens. And Hugo contains so much emotion in one tiny sentence. Cosette's story has brought me to tears, but having a 1.5 year old means that happens a lot to me in life now. I didn't realize how many suffering children existed in literature and television until I had my own.

So, in summary, I'm quite enjoying the book. Onward I go!

Check out my other impressions on the Twitter hashtag #LesMisRead2016. And if you want to read it this year with me, there's plenty of time to catch up.

Click to Tweet: I'm reading LES MISERABLES in 2016 with @Saboviec. Join me? #LesMisRead2016

Thanks for stopping by, everyone, and don't forget--let us know what you thought of The Martian in the comments!

January 2016 #OABookClub: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

So ends the first month of our new feature, #OABookClub, wherein we read a book together. In honor of our inaugural #PassorPages agent feedback contest, which was open to mystery/thriller writers, we chose The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie.

Did you read it, too? If not, I would highly suggest doing so. It's considered one of Christie's best works. If you did, we'd love for you to join in the discussion. Either way, please note:

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!

Read on to find out what our operatives thought of the book...

Katrina

What a twisty ending! This is a classic whodunit where the person you suspect least ends up being the guilty party. The problem for me was that the person I suspected least wasn't even on my suspect list. I was quite thrown for a loop! I am proud of myself for guessing right on a few minor predictions, but as a whole I failed to keep up with M. Poirot.

Agatha Christie is a writer with wit and flair. She makes fun of human nature through characters who act precisely how you'd expect them to act, while slipping a few in under your nose who are merely acting. I very much enjoyed the writing style, the narrator's tone and personality, and the small town English setting. The drama of each person's secrets and open struggles plus the mystery of whodunit make this book quite the page-turner.

Find Katrina on Twitter here.

Kara

My love of all things Agatha Christie stems from my grandmother and her love of pocket-sized cozy mysteries. One summer, while visiting her, I explored her den and was amazed to find dozens of books stacked on top of each other in barely balanced piles.

"Can I read these?" It was a question I asked a lot at that age; I liked to borrow books from my parents' bookshelves, which sometimes got us all into trouble. But Agatha Christie was deemed safe, and my grandmother handpicked And Then There Were None for me to read.

My reading level might have been that of an adult, but I was 8. And Then There Were None terrified me. I stayed away from Agatha Christie and her psychological terrors for a long time. When I was finally ready to give Dame Agatha another chance, someone directed me to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Interestingly, it was not my grandmother. Ackroyd is one of the few Agatha Christie novels she doesn't own.

I consider Ackroyd to be the pinnacle of the mystery genre, the king of the unreliable narrators. I never saw the ending coming. I know many people consider it to be a cheat, but I found it absolutely brilliant. If I had the power to erase memories, I'd erase that book so I could have the joy of reading it and being shocked yet again (I'd also delete the Harry Potter books so I could experience them for the first time again). I've now read most of Agatha Christie's mysteries (my grandmother gave her collection to me several years ago), and Ackroyd has always stood out as the best.

One caveat: Don't watch the TV version before you've read the book. The reveal is nowhere near as masterful.

Find Kara on Twitter here.

Samantha

I have a confession to make: I already knew the ending before I started reading. I was doing research for one of my books, and I found it on a list of famous works with unreliable narrators.

Still, I had trouble detecting the truth about what was really happening because Christie buried it quite deeply. Instead of creating some elaborate lie over cover up the truth, the narrator glossed over what happened. If you're going to lie and get away with it, that's the way to do it--don't give too much information--but in analyzing it as a writing device, I was a bit disappointed.

I love the flamboyant Tyler Durden in Fight Club or the smooth-talking Verbal Kent in the movie The Usual Suspects or even the creepy, confusing Humbert Humbert in Lolita. My preference for unreliable narrators is to have them spin a yarn that sucks me in and spits me back out again when I realize it was a lie all along.

Find Samantha on Twitter here.

So what did you think? Chat with us in the comments below!

February's Operation Awesome Book of the Month

For this month, we're reading a book that's so burning hot right now, it's been made into a movie starring Matt Damon.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive — and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills — and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength – he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.

As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive – but Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

Grounded in real, present-day science from the first page to the last, yet propelled by a brilliantly ingenious plot that surprises the reader again and again, The Martian is a truly remarkable thriller: an impossible-to-put-down suspense novel that manages to read like a real-life survival tale.

Join us! We'll be posting comments on Tuesday, March 1, so come back then and let us know what you thought.

Click to Tweet: I'm reading THE MARTIAN by Andy Weir in February for @OpAwesome6's #OABookClub. Join me?

And finally, before you go...

#LesMisRead2016 Update from Samantha

I got a little bit behind with my reading in Les Miserables when I got the stomach flu a week and a half ago, but I'm caught up again. I'm glad I've done it this way. Breaking it into bite-sized chunks (3.3 pages per day) is keeping me motivated.

The entirety of Part 1, Book 1 is a character sketch on Bishop Bienvenu, which as a writing device, is poorly done. When we finally meet our main character Jean Valjean in Part 1, Book 2, Chapter 1, no tension exists around what's going to happen to him once he gets pointed in the direction of the bishop. Hugo just spent seventy pages telling us how terribly, wondrously nice the bishop is, so all the worry for our main character deflates.

The writing itself, however, is moving. The scene where the bishop goes to comfort the dying man who plotted the overthrow of the king during the French Revolution is touching. Since we know that the bishop is a good man, seeing his conflict over how to treat this hated political dissident is interesting. And when the dying man's story finally comes out, I might have had tears in my eyes.

Check out my other impressions on the Twitter hashtag #LesMisRead2016. And if you want to read it this year with me, there's plenty of time to catch up.

Click to Tweet: I'm reading LES MISERABLES in 2016 with @Saboviec. Join me? #LesMisRead2016

Thanks for stopping by, everyone, and don't forget--let us know what you thought of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd in the comments!

Top Ten Operation Awesome Posts of 2014

Tis the season for top ten lists! Look back with me on the top ten Operation Awesome posts of 2014.*

*Does not include critiques or Mystery Agent posts


10. Shifting Publishing Power Structures by Melinda Friesen
Guest blogger Melinda Friesen talks about the steps to getting a book published by a trade publisher and her decision to work with a small press.


9. Behind the Contest - A Few Pointers from a Contest Judge by SC Writer
Guest blogger SC Writer, one of the masterminds behind Nightmare on Query Street, Query Kombat, and other pitch contests talks about what catches his eye.


8. Tomorrow is #MSWL Day! by Amy Trueblood
OA contributor Amy Trueblood reminds us of some guidelines for making use of agents' twitter hashtag, #MSWL (ManuScript Wish List).


7. The Sibyl Reborn by Toni Kerr
OA contributor Toni Kerr interviews author J. Perry Kelly on his urban fantasy novel, The Sibyl Reborn.


6. Platypire World Domination by J. Hooligan
Guest blogger J. Hooligan teaches the world about a fascinating new creature, the playtpire!


5.  Numerical Motivation 2014: Using Spreadsheets to Increase My Word Count by Abby Annis
OA contributor Abby Annis shows how she uses spreadsheets to keep herself organized and accountable for her daily, weekly, monthly, and annual word count goals. Includes links to awesome spreadsheets you can use!


4. Submission Tips from an Editorial Intern by Jennifer Blackwood
Guest blogger Jennifer Blackwood shares the top things she looks for when a submission crosses her desk.


3. The Anchors that Weigh Us Down and How to Break Free by Karen McCoy
OA contributor Karen McCoy talks about the tough task of letting go of a manuscript so that you can move on to better things.


2. Adaptations and Loose Interpretations: Frozen and the Snow Queen by Katrina L. Lantz
OA contributor compares the Disney movie Frozen with the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale on which it's based.

and finally....

1. Settings that Pop by PK Hrezo
Former guest blogger, now official OA contributor PK Hrezo talks about the settings in her debut, Butterman (Time) Travel, Inc, and how she researched these historical places to make them pop!