Happy Banned Books Week!

This week, the American Library Association (ALA) celebrates the freedom to read through Banned Books Week. Chicago will be hosting the Banned Books Readout in which six of the ten most challenged books, including And Tango Makes Three, TTYL, and The Gossip Girls Novels, will be read by their authors.

I'm glad to know that many of the books I have read are on the 2008-2009 list: The Twilight Saga, The Kite Runner, To Kill a Mockingbird, My Sister's Keeper, etc.

Ironically, the next book on my nightstand, The Book Thief, deals with this very issue. In it, a little girls becomes obsessed with reading and turns to stealing banned books to satiate her hunger for reading. Wouldn't it be funny if it made the banned/challenged books list?!

Here's to exercising our FREEDOM TO READ!

Author Spotlight: Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights was required reading (and probably still is) for high school English classes. However, it truly is one of my favorite novels. After reading Twilight and seeing so many references to it, I was inspired to reread the same copy I've kept for over 10 years. I must say that I enjoyed it as much as the first time I read it. It is full of beautiful yet dark imagery, intriguing figurative language, mysterious characters, and an unrequited, tumultous love set in a similarly, unruly and violent landscape.

Although it was Emily's only novel, it is such a masterpiece that it transcends time and continues to inspire movies and other pieces of literature. After rereading it, I noticed that it was not only mentioned throughout the Twilight saga, but there are also references to the novel in The Kite Runner and The Glassblower of Murano. Who needs a happy ending when you've experienced such an insanely passionate love story?

"My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees — my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath — a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff — he's always, always in my mind — not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself — but as my own being — so, don't talk of our separation again — it is impracticable." ~Catherine's monologue, Ch. 9.

For all the TwiFans!

A couple of days ago, I came across a link for an untitled continuation to the Twilight Saga on FanFiction. It was written by an aspiring writer and fan of the saga who goes by the name Renee. Her blog also contains the story with pictures and music to add effect. In her blog, she also mentions that she would title the novel, Elysium, because the characters are usually caught in a state similar to purgatory. Iwas a little skeptical about reading it at first, but it is actually very well-written and follows the canon with fidelity.

If you're like me and were disappointed after Breaking Dawn because you didn't know what you were going to do without more Twilight, then I highly recommend this manuscript. As I read it, I was engrossed by the plot development and the writing style. Consequently, I was glued to my laptop for several hours straight. I just can't get enough of these characters and their fantasy world, a world I'm sure we'd all love to experience for ourselves. If Stephenie Meyer continues her saga in the future, she may want to consult with this version. It has everything Twilight fans love about the books: Romance, suspense, drama, intrigue, action, etc. If not, then I hope Renee will provide us with more of her twist on this epic ;)

By the way, if you're not familiar with FanFiction, it is a website where amateur and aspiring writers post work that's based on other movies, books, and genres. You can find some decent material authored by people who may just be national bestselling authors in the making.