Book Crazies (2)

To read more about Book Crazies (and its "sister" meme, Book Lovelies) please visit our features page.

Let me start off by saying I don't dislike City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. This first book of the Mortal Instrument series has goofy humor that is sometimes reminiscent of the Harry Potter books. (I'm not surprised since Cassandra Clare wrote 3 Harry Potter fan fiction books!) Surely, that's something to admire. (When I needed more Harry Potter, I turned to the fanfiction! Did you?)

What's driving me crazy is that her "humor" sometimes goes right over my head. And no, I'm not a dumb-dumb. It's just that the humor is sometimes so off the wall that I can't help but assume it's an inside joke between her and someone else...as in, someone else besides the reader. It's borderline driving me book crazies. In real life, it's not fun listening to other people's inside jokes. It's not fun in a book either.
 
There are also tons of irrelevant details that I don't care to read about. For example:

...in which we learn Jace hates Earl Grey tea...
"I'll have tea," Clary said, realizing how long it had been since she had eaten or drunk anything. She felt as if she'd been running on pure adrenaline since she woke up.
Jace succumbed. "All right. As long as it isn't Earl Grey," he added, wrinkling his fine-boned nose. "I hate bergamot."
...
Clary raised her eyebrows at Jace. "You hate bergamot?"
Jace had wandered over to the narrow bookshelf and was examining its contents. "You have a problem with that?"
"You may be the only guy my age I've ever met who knows what bergamot is, much less that it's in Earl Grey tea." (page 100)

...in which we learn Jace hates cucumbers...
"Cucumber," he said, in response to her stare.
"I always think cucumber sandwiches are just the thing for tea, don't you?" Madame Dorthea inquired, of no one in particular.
"I hate cucumber," Jace said, and handed the rest of his sandwich to Clary. She bit into it--it was seasoned with just the right amount of mayonnaise and pepper. Her stomach rumbled in grateful appreciation of the first food she'd tasted since nachos she'd eaten with Simon.
"Cucumber and bergamot," Clary said. "Is there anything else you hate that I ought to know about?" (page 103)

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Now, unless bergamot and cucumbers mix to make some kind of magical healing salve that's going to save either Jace or Clary's life.........why must I read about it? In fact, I apologize. You may be wondering WHY on earth you just read it too.

I am starting to think I did myself a disservice by reading Clockwork Angel (the prequel to COB) first. Clockwork Angel is the 4th book Clare has had published. City of Bones is the first. Either she switched editors or she has GREATLY improved as a writer. City of Bones is not as well written as Clockwork Angel, which makes me sad and happy. Sad for obvious reasons, happy because Clare has improved!

These are all within the a few paragraphs:

• stupidly gazed
• thoughtfully licked spaghetti off his knuckle---> what the?
• awfully calm
• meanly pleased
• awfully eager 

Am I the crazy one? I got dizzy by all the ly...ly...ly...ly...ly. If it only happened on one or two pages, fine. That's easy to forget. The problem is that it happens throughout the whole book!

Even though I've definitely had my book crazies moments while reading City of Bones, it doesn't mean I'm going to give it a bad review. I'm only about half through at the moment. Great characterization or an awesome plot could raise the current score. That's the thing. With most books, there's always going to be a few book crazies. It's the book LOVELIES that make up for it.

Have you had any book crazies moments lately?

If you would like participate in this meme, please leave your link at the bottom of this post. Book Crazies is the "sister" meme to Book Lovelies. The two memes rotate every other week for variety!

Book Crazies

We notice when authors do their job. We fall in love with their characters (literally!). We daydream about the worlds they create. We also sometimes (okay, most of the time) wish life were really like the books we read. Now that that's been said, Book Crazies is a monthly feature for readers to share what drives them crazy. Bad dialogue? Poorly used metaphors? Annoying characters? The purpose is not, however, to cruelly bash books or their authors. Give examples and good reasons to back them up. 

This is going to be a short post. As some of you know, I've got a huge deadline due tomorrow. It's a very exciting--and stressful--time for me. I'm handing in a complete book  to my editor (1 of 2 being published), and I've been spending hours trying to perfect, perfect, perfect. I'm almost there.

So, onto today's topic. Book Crazies.

Just the other day I threw a book, a library book, into the fireplace (oooo now you think I'm evil), watching it catch fire, and burn, burn, burn...in that ring of fire...that ring of fire. Okay, well I felt like doing that at one point, but of course, I didn't.

My most recent read is A Great & Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. And yes, I know this is "Book Crazies," so I'm technically supposed to be complaining. I will. Give me a moment. Must...say...positive...things....first. Libba Bray is an awesome writer. Her words flow beautifully as if every sentence was written effortlessly. That takes skill, baby, skill! So, without wrecking my up-coming review of A Great & Terrible Beauty, I do want to say 1 thing that drove me a little Book Crazies.

The book was leading up to something GREAT. I felt it. I yearned for it. I needed it so I could feel satisfied after dedicating 400+ pages worth of my life. And, in my humble opinion, it didn't quite reach that mouth dropping, heart pounding moment where you wonder if the characters are going to make it out alive. The climax of the story fell slightly below par for me. It did affect my overall opinion about the book.

Has that happened to you? Have you gotten hundreds of pages into a book, looking forward to seeing how everything unfolds, and then close the book, totally disappointed? Do you have a recent Book Crazies moment? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Better yet, if you've read A Great & Terrible Beauty, do you disagree with my impression of the climax of the story?