LISTING AWAY: From Page to Screen

Here. I am offering up this beautifully long post in the hopes that it will compensate appropriately for the morbid lack of activity in this space. Believe me, it was not intentional. And for some reason, this list took longer than I’d imagined and I ended up falling asleep on the keyboard and jerked awake in the wee hours of morning with half the letters imprinted on my face.

I hope you find the punishment the bloggerverse conspired to inflict upon me, suitable for my grievous crimes.

Adaptations that broke my heart because they were the consummate apotheosis of their literary parent

1. The Help
2. The Secret Life Of Bees
3. The Book Thief
4. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
5. The Boy in Striped Pajamas
6. The Perks of Being A Wallflower
7. To Kill A Mockingbird
8. The Outsiders
9. The Hunger Games
10. The Lord of the Rings (I’m not so hot about The Hobbit trilogy, though)
11. The Kite Runner

 Adaptations that surprisingly surpassed their literary parent

1. The Princess Diaries
2. P.S. I Love You (The book’s still a DNF)
3. The Sisterhood of Travelling Pants
4. A Walk To Remember
5. The Time-Traveller’s Wife (I despised the book)
6. Stardust

 Adaptations that made me add the literary parent to my TBR pile

1. Everything is Illuminated (Lord, I need to read this real quick.)
2. Les Miserables (GOD, yes)
3. Memoirs of a Geisha (Why, why haven’t I still read it?)
4. A Series Of Unfortunate Events
5. True Grit
6. The Maze Runner
7. War Horse
8. Bend it like Beckham

 Adaptations that made their literary parent proud

1. Warm Bodies
2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid (only #1 and #2 - Let’s face it, Dog Days sucked)
3. Harry Potter (#1 - #3)
4. I Am Number Four
5. The Golden Compass
6. Speak
7. If I Stay
8. Gone Girl
9. Ender’s Game
10. My Sister’s Keeper (There’s that thing with alternative ending though)
11. Pride and Prejudice (UK version, 2005)
12. Sense and Sensibility (1995)
13. Divergent
14. Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (well, sort of – I’m kinda partial to Magnus Bane)
15. Life Of Pi
16. One Day
17. The Da Vinci Code
18. Angels and Demons

 Adaptations that I am literally dying to see but haven’t already

1. Looking For Alibrandi (please god please)
2. Pride and Prejudice (BBC version)
3. Insurgent
4. Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (and the reason why I haven’t seen it yet is probably because it’s R-rated and banned, but I’ve heard rave reviews)
5. Never Let Me Go
6. The Scarlet Letter (1934)
7. Gone with the Wind (maybe I should read the book first?)
8. Paper Towns
9. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
10. Notes on a Scandal
11. The Namesake
12. Jane Eyre

 Adaptations that make me want to fling it on the screen playwright’s/director’s face

1. Will whoever wrote the screenplay and directed the Percy Jackson movies please stand up?
2. Harry Potter (#4 through #8 – I have some unresolved screenplay issues)
3. The Host
4. Eragon
5. The Fault in our Stars (sorry, not sorry – but they slathered cheese all over it)
6. Dear John (For some reason, I was mostly insulted by how much I didn’t like the movie – even though with the Tatum/Seyfried pair I should have, by all rights)

If you think I have missed a book or two, or classified a book/movie under an undeserving list, please do let me know. And do recommend! Most probably, I would be labouring under the delusion that my favourite book still hasn’t been turned into a movie yet and if that’s the case, I demand to know ASAP.

Bookish Guilty Pleasures and Other Scandalous Secrets

Since the Lenten season has finally caught up with me (REPENT ALL YE SINNERS) I decided I might as well walk that extra mile and ‘fess up all my naughty bookworm sins.

*minor hyperventilation episode*

Alright, here goes:

(Although most probably, by this time tomorrow I will be regretting this post so bad I might bury myself alive and never type another letter into the blogosphere.)

AS I WAS SAYING.

1.  I USED TO BE A TWIHARD – up until the second book happened. That is not to say that I’d read Twilight and then waited a year to get New Moon and filled all my days in between fangirling excessively. It means that while I was reading Twilight, I shipped Bella and Edward so very physically, with my head intermittently spinning very ludicrous fantasies involving me kidnapping Edward for myself in his Aston Martin (WHAT A RIOT I CAN’T EVEN DRIVE A BIKE) and then when the second book happened (all the four books had already been published by then so there was no time spent hanging on a cliff) I hurt my head a lot because I was busy head-desk-ing. By the time I’d finished Breaking Dawn, I’d decided I was anti-Twilight and would spent the rest of my life spewing acid on the topic. As it so happens, that is not the confession – I was merely setting the scene. Remember when a partial draft of Midnight Sun leaked on the Internet and we all read it? Well, guess how many times this so-called anti-Twihard read it. No? OK, is SIX a decent number? Or how about how many times I wished the whole book would be published soon? Did you know that INFINITY could be a number?
2. Following up on #1, I HATED STEPHANIE MEYER. Please note that I was in the ninth grade when I was going through a phase called BOYS ARE SHIT AND ALL THINGS NOT NICE (I dunno why – no guy had ever done anything to me – I used to be a pretty extreme t(w)een). Then I saw the cover of The Host (ON SALE!!!!!!) and read the blurb and bought it and read it and read it and read it and read it … and kept the fact that I might no longer NOT HATE Meyer a secret till I realized I was being a two-faced bitch.
3. I used to pride myself in the knowledge that I DON’T READ CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE. As people ticked off books they had read, I would mentally scoff at them when I classified them as POOR READING CHOICES or NOT LITERARY ENOUGH. (How much do you already hate me?) Then I discovered The Mediator and Jinx and Airhead by Meg Cabot and attained enlightenment.
4.  I JUDGE BOOKS, THEIR AUTHORS AND THEIR FANBASE. (I wasn’t trumpeting that point; I’m stripping myself bare. Go on, judge me. I basically asked for it.)
5. Despite whatever I say and feel about how erotica is basically literary porn – I enjoy a good SPICY SCENE from time to time. (OH GOD.)
   
6. Hey, genuine doubt: Do you, at any point of time, while in the process of shipping your ship in your head after a good book or a Tumblr post or – y’know – randomly, (un)consciously replace the hero(ine) with yourself? (please say yes, please say yes)
7. … Maybe I should stop.

A Twitter Story: The Seven Realms - Cinda Williams Chima

It was just after the semester break when I walked into Miss J’s room to catch up on all the fandoms – old and new, when she suddenly jabbed a finger in my face.

Miss J: YOU.

Me: (shocked) Yeah?

Miss J: (pointing to a daunting stack of books) YOU’RE READING THIS.

Me: (snorts after picking up one and reading the blurb) Really? It’s that good?

Miss J: Oh. I’m sorry. It wasn’t a request.

Reader, my life has changed forever since.

Where do I start? The fact that the last time I’d read a series so plotsy, so addictive, and so good was maybe when I read the Percy Jackson Series. Which was four years back. Or the fact that I got a heroine to look up to – someone who managed to be realistic and inspiring and just so very badass. Or the fact that every day till I finished reading the series, I would hit the sack only when my eyes had stopped distinguishing words from one another (which was two am-ish). Or the fact that I was able to extend my Book Boyfriends list to include #10. (Just thinking about Han has my heart beating faster – THIS IS MADDENING UGH) Or the fact that the THE CHARACTERS are annoyingly real – HOW CAN FICTION DO THAT? Cat with her ferocity. Fire Dancer with his understanding. Micah with his love. Amon with all the tortured, repressed feelings (THAT POOR SOUL). Bird with her trust. “Crow” with his Han-ishness. Then -

RAISA HAN RAISA HAN RAISA HAN RAISA HAN RAISA HAN RAISA HAN RAISA HAN

GOD THOSE TWO. This series isn’t your average love story. The hero and the heroine have like JUST TWO EPISODES together in the first book and it isn’t till Book 3 that Han gets to know that Raisa isn’t just some random blueblood but the FRIGGIN’ QUEEN. Did I mention that at that point he’s a boy with the reputation of being a streetlord and a thief?

So, yeah, considering my Book Boyfriends list, this is the second outlaw I’ve fallen in love with. I am hopelessly incorrigible.

This isn’t a review. Reviews are for telling people (very coherently and objectively) why they should or shouldn’t read a book. This is a post in which I have overindulged in feeeeeeeeeeelings. Very ship-py feelings. Very WHAT-THE-EFFING-HELL-HAPPENS-NEXT feelings.

For a more comprehensible idea of my symptoms, you should check my tweets out. (For those of you who already follow me, I will not ask you to continue reading this post, as such reading material is okay the first time, torturous the second. You might have also noticed the small fact that I changed my surname – not that it matters a lot).

HOW COME I HAVEN'T HEARD OF THIS SERIES BEFORE TODAY #amreading #SevenRealms I sense a major marathon week ahead. I'm screwed.
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 18, 2015

I never thought I would be practically capable of reading my eyes off. #SevenRealms Wait, it's only midnight? Maybe I'll start Book 3.
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 20, 2015

Crazy Fangirl Mode: Activated #SevenRealms
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 20, 2015

It's hard being in love with a guy who's not only a streetlord and a rum wizard but also happens to exist only in books. #SevenRealms
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 24, 2015

@jackedbylit I'll ship them till Armageddon claims me though.
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 24, 2015

@CindaChima Thank you for Raisa, a character I can finally relate to - short and dark, smart and fierce. And for Han Alister, of course.
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 24, 2015

(SHE RETWEETED ME HOW AWESOME IS SHE)

Rejoice all ye faithful. I've *almost* attained closure. This should be the last of the #SevenRealms crazed fangirl tweets.
— Aneta Han Alister (@jackedbylit) January 24, 2015

P.S.: Apparently there is going to be a spin-off series (YES!) but Han and Raisa are like 42 (NOOOOO)

P.P.S: There isn't going to be a rating for this one. This is purely a fangirl post, not a reviewer's because:

REVIEW: Imitation - Heather Hildenbrand

*COURTESY OF NETGALLEY*

This book is a well-written piece of literature. I can’t find it in me to fault the writing. The plot was paced out perfectly by giving extra attention to fleshing out every character. Titus Rogen came across the villain with the dark murky past. Marla, whose notes sent to Imitations in Twig City is the sort of character you can’t judge till after you have finished the series. Ida and Lonnie are the sort of people you want in your support group. Daniel is …

View the blurb on Goodreads

I'm not spoiling, you.

Imitation climbed the plot arc mountain with finesse. I stayed up till after midnight to climb down from the conflict plateau.
I liked Ven’s voice – brave with a side of scared. Although there is insta-attraction featured here, it’s justifiable – since it would have been the natural course for any girl in Ven’s shoes. Because, hey when you have a character like Linc Crawford who is a hybrid between Four in Divergent (both the Pre – and Post – Tris versions of him) and your average everyday awe-inspiring biker dude (see what I did there?), you really can’t help but forgive her, especially when we know that she hasn’t seen that many Y-chromosomes in Twig City.That being said, what sets this book apart from the other dystopian books?

The Imitation Club: “We have CLONES”

Uh. Orphan Black is way too amazing. I didn’t find Book One compulsive enough to induct me into the Imitation Club. I also don’t think I will pick up Book 2 unless I find it lying around within an arm’s reach. It was a good read (I didn’t feel like I was subjecting my eyes to torture or killing time pointlessly), but not great enough.

How helpful was that, eh? I can’t pinpoint out exactly what made it short of a Great Enough Read. Maybe I’m suffering from the Too Much Dystopian Syndrome and everything just feels the same.

VERDICT: 3 stars

… And An Announcement

Okay. There isn’t a better way of saying this. I am going to take the rest of the month off my blog. Reasons:

Day one: I hate my book already. #NaNoWriMo2014
— Aneta Augustine (@jackedbylit) November 1, 2014

EXAMS. And this isn't even nearly whole pile.

Oh yes. Only an overly ambitious fool like me would decide to participate in NaNoWriMo when she has her semester-end exams as well. Just. Bear with me, alright?

What do you have to look forward to? In December, I am going to post some fabulous reviews of some fabulous ARCs I received (thanks Netgalley!) and some posts from when my mind was high on coffee and all things nice.

Another Blogging Miracle: Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

If I could make a list of things I want to painfully kill, #1 would go to COLLEGE. I have exams next week and I started getting buried under workload three weeks earlier. Which is how I am not getting any reviewing done and doing this acceptance post more than a week later. Morrighan @ Elysian Fields nominated me and I feel HONOURED, Morrighan, THANK YOU.

 I am also enclosing a virtual pizza with SORRY M&Ms and a hug. :)

Rules:

1. Thank the blogger that nominated you, and link back to their blog in your post.
2. Post the award's logo on your blog.
3. Answer the ten question asked by the nominator.
4. Nominate ten bloggers for the award.
5. Ask your nominees ten questions.

Morrighan asked me:

What is your favorite book ever? I know, this is a tough one!

This cat understands my angst

This is not called “tough”. PE is tough. Calculus is tough. Doing laundry is tough. Trying to decide whether you want that appetising chef’s choice or whether you want to play safe with your regular is tough. Coming up with the right name for your kid is tough. Thinking of a possible plot arc for a book idea you have is tough. Naming my favourite book isn’t tough, it’s against my principle of being. :P

So I am going to both answer and not answer your question, taking a leaf out of Schrodinger’s book. Books I keep recommending to people right and left are:

To Kill the Mockingbird

Harry Potter (Books 1 through 7)

The Book Thief

The Help

 Jellicoe Road

Sold

The Mediator series

The Hunger Games series

Most books by Jodi Picoult

….. are some off the top of my head

What book are you most anticipating reading?

The Young Elites by Marie Lu. After Hunger Games there was a parade of dystopian fiction,, out of which I liked Legend best (even though Champion wasn’t my favourite way to end the series.) I also read a sneak preview of TYE and had blue balls at the end of Chapter1.

I was also psyched to read The Blood of Olympus but my book buddy advised me against reading it lest I become suicidal and leave a note saying it’s because Rick Riordan messed up the series.

What is your favorite genre? Least favorite? Why?

Currently, my favourite is realistic YA and social drama. And anything with a lyrical prose.

Least favourite – anything that features instalove/ less plot – more kissing-more sexual tension-more 18+ scenes/ average chick-lit/bad narration/depthless characters/regular dystopian

What female character do you most relate with?

Uh. Um. Wait. It’s going to come to me any minute. Wait, I think… Nope, nothing.

I know. I just had an epiphany myself. I am now going to proceed with the blame game. It’s not my fault. Not actively. Books that I like to read are generally depressing (as verified by my book buddy) which feature heroines that have low self-esteem/suicidal/had a best friend who committed suicide/rape victims/apartheid victims … you get the idea. Or they are they are the smart, sword/gun – wielding, mouthy, snarky, beautiful, AMAZING girls that I insanely wish I could be. There is also this unfortunate issue of lack of diversity in books to boot.

But in class when my mind stopped understanding Power Electronics, I suddenly thought of Cath in Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. After all, we practise the same profession, don’t we?

So maybe I blog instead of writing famous fanfiction. Same diff. We are both introverts, shy around strangers, and swoon over anything bookish.

What male character would you most like to spend the day with?

This is almost as hard as Question #1. Aside from book boyfriends (with who I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my sorry life), I guess it would be Magnus Bane (although he is a book boyfriend – the gay one so even fictionally out of bounds). He would show me the right way to use body glitter, take me shopping, introduce me to other Downworlders, Chairman Meow, make my sides hurt from laughing too much, make me eat stuff I wouldn’t otherwise eat, … I could go on.

A day with Magnus Bane is a day well spent.

What is your least favorite book you've ever had to review?

Whisper – Stacey R. Campbell It wasn’t my type.

One of your favorite books that you feel deserves more attention and praise?

Tell the Wolves I’m Home. The words breathe life into the characters and you just ….

And the title is Just. So. Inspiring. I started off by hating it, and at the end, I was a different person. I keep shoving this book in people’s faces and they’re like (I’ve never heard of it.)

The most over hyped book you have read this year is..?

(Sorry everyone.) Throne of Glass. Hands down.

If you could live in one mythical world from a book, which would it be and why?

The JKR version of the wizarding world. Why?

HOGWARTS. ZONKO’S. DIAGON ALLEY. HOGSMEADE. RON’S PLACE. LUNA’S SHOE. SHRIEKING SHACK. HOGWARTS. HOGWARTS. HOGWARTS.

How many books do you physically own, either ebook or physical?

I just have two paperbacks with me at the moment. Before you collapse with disgust, it’s because my actual shelf is at home (in another country) and here pages curl with humidity so I keep transporting them home. So, I don’t know the exact number of physical books I have.

My virtual shelf contains over 300 (of which I’ve read only about 200 BUT I HAVE NO SHAME I STILL KEEP ADDING TO IT). That ok, good, bad, or ugly?

And I ask my nominees:

1. Which author is guaranteed to not let you down with his/her latest release?
2. Who is your favourite badass heroine?
3. Name a book or poem you had to read for school that you actively hated?
4. What is the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?
5. Which poem reaches down inside you and leaves you breathless every single time you read it? (You can skip this question if it’s too personal.)
6. What subject do you think hasn’t been explored much in YA literature?
7. What is your favourite bookish game to play when fans of the same book get together?
8. Have you written to (or tweeted) any writer asking what happens with the characters in a book? (Especially those books that are left free to reader’s interpretation) Did you get an answer?
9. What is the weirdest food combination you like that the general public think is disgusting?
10. If you could RJ for an FM for 30 minutes, what would be your playlist?

Like I mentioned before, I am drowning in assignments and unopened textbooks so I really don't have the time (or energy) to comment on blogs (there are people I want to pass this on to). SO NOMINATE YOURSELF. You are brilliant and awesome and inspiring and the bloggerverse welcomes you. Just comment below and we'll fight over fandoms and keep tagging each other.

The Book Gif Tag

Andie at Metaphorical Musings tagged the not-so-giftastic me, and I took it up because I'm running low on dares this week.

And plus, it was fun updating my gif-cabulary. :)

The Great Gatsby

Yeah, alright. That ending need not have happened though.

The Color Purple 

The gifs say it all. What a book.

The 5th Wave 

My very dependable source tells me I will not like it because - 

Too much of futuristic novels, and they all start sounding similar.

The Time Traveler's Wife

I didn't like it. Yes the time traveling is unrealistic, but this book made it sound like an impossible genetic illness that breaks all physics laws. The nerd in me finds it unforgivable, sorry.

The Assassin's Curse

I haven't read this, so I looked up the blurb, and here's my verdict:

The Knife of Never Letting Go 

Stayed way past my bedtime to finish this one.

There was a lot of this - 

Patrick Ness happens to be a MAGICIAN with words.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone

Another not-yet-read-it, so I checked it out on GR and - 

Need to get my hands on this one.

A Game of Thrones 

I would have really really enjoyed it if - 

There wasn't so much beheading

 And how many DETAILED GRAPHIC sex scenes am I supposed to tolerate?

The Maze Runner 

Haven't read it, but watched the movie trailer and now I'm vaguely interested.

If I Stay

It was alright, up until the last scene when I leaked one tiny tear.

But I love Chloe Moretz, so I'm definitely watching the movie.

I know, I know, fans - please don't kill me.

I tag - 

Tansie at Totally Tansie

Ella at Once Upon A Bookish Time

Crazy Caro at Crazy Utopia

and anyone else with time on their hands.

The ten books are:

Peter Pan

The Help

Throne of Glass

Divergent

Twilight

The Mortal Instruments - City Of Bones

The Mediator

Legend

13 reasons why

Pride and Prejudice

If you would like a different list of books, feel free.

Fantasy Social Circle

If you’ve come across my second Liebster post, you might have noticed my answer to Briana’s question, “If you had to pick two fictional characters to be your parents and raise you from baby to adult who would you pick and why?”

That got me thinking. Why stop there? Why not wish for an entire social circle?

There are many idealist father figures featured in books – Hans Hubermann, Dumbledore, Sirius Black – but Atticus trumps them all. All those scenes between Scout and him makes me feel incredibly fond of them.

She kicks ass - human asses, godly asses, demigod asses, when it comes to Percy.

August is the wise one, June is the angry one, May is the sweet one. And all of them have an infinite capacity for love. They also make honey. WHAT AN AMAZING BOOK THIS IS.

I need a geeky younger brother who has no clue about girls, keeps researching whether dogs have psychic abilities, and is cool with his sister having a relationship with their domestic ghost.

This one happens to be a childhood fantasy that has stood the test of time.

She dyes her hair whatever godforsaken colour she wants, she is the protector of the downtrodden and the weak, pretends like she isn't vulnerable, loves Cher and anything Cher, gets pregnant and decides to keep the baby.

Won-Won is King. He irritates you to death, keeps picking fights, is sarcastic, hates Snape, loves Hermione but doesn't know it, is ready to hunt horcruxes and play deadly chess so that you know you are not alone. And he has a humongous family that adopts you just by association.

I can't choose. I CAN'T CHOOSE ALRIGHT? *throws pillows at the computer* I'd be HAPPY EVER AFTER with any of them.

To know the kind of things he does for his crush/boyfriend's friends, you need to read the series. (After book 3, I continued for the sole sake of Magnus.) He is ... indescribably awesome for a friend, an indescribable honour for a boyfriend. He says he is a "freewheeling bisexual" and all that, so fingers crossed.

You need to read this book, if you haven't already. Remember I wrote a post on how before the boy and the girl become an item they have this intense hate relationship and how overused all that drama is? That technically happens here too - to an extent where the fights become physical and WAR - but when you continue you realize things are not how they seem. I do not have a crush on Jonah, he belongs to Taylor - it feels wrong even coveting him, however fictional he is.

And that's it people. My brain has refused to cooperate to help expand this list. Share your lists please.

Book Pride and Prejudice

There is a conversation that happens once a blue moon when I am stuck with another person with no other option than to talk. The following is the remainder of that desperate conversation after we’ve discussed our curriculum vitae.

Me: (suffering through a bout of mental agony trying to think of a topic) So. You read?

The Other Person: Yes! I read more than the average person. What about you?

Me: OHMYGODYES. You must have an idea how hard it is to come across another bookworm, right?

TOP: Absolutely! What kind of books do you read?

Me: I am passing through a realistic YA phase. With some dystopia thrown in for good measure. I completely adore historical fiction and love literary prose (Patrick Ness is KING). I also read enough of adult fiction (I need some social drama for my diet), poetry and of course, classics. That’s off the top of my head. What about you?

Almost this conversation happened when I first met Miss J. Except that she came searching for me asking, “Hey I heard you read?” and her answer to my “What books do you read?” confirmed us book buddies.

But sometimes TOP’s answer throws me.

TOP: Wow. So you must have read Twilight, right? I am such a Twihard. And I completely love Fifty Shades. My favourite author is (insert contemporary romance writer’s name).

Me: Meh.

We all know what they say about books and their covers. In my case, I read the book’s backside blurb only if the cover does alright by me. But I am also guilty of a worse crime.

I judge a person by the book (s)he reads.

The worst part? I don’t even think that badly of all those people who haven’t even come across A Book.

God help any Twihard or Fifty Shades fan who crosses my path – they are guaranteed to get an earful from me. That awful conversation includes a lot of “Yeah? What so great about stalkers and paedophiles?” and “No. Don’t tell me that’s love, it’s called creepy” and “Right. You are a fan of a heroine who turns suicidal because her vampire boyfriend dumped her” and “Do you know that the word ‘stone’ has been used 12 times to describe Edward in Twilight alone?” and “Do not get me started on Fifty Shades”.

Then I come across Rae Carson and a little something she said to disrupt my sleep.

Putting it that way made me feel pretty bad for all those times I handed out patronizing lectures. Rae Carson is one writer in my list of fandoms I am a citizen of, whose series finale did not involve unnecessary character murders and crappy plot. So when she said that, I did lose my sleep over whether or not she’s right.

But think about it. How is being a fan of literary porn justifiable? According to me, a person who loves reading erotica literature isn’t a bookworm – the same way someone who watches a lot of porn isn’t a movie buff. And Twilight. I feel it’s preaching the wrong ‘moral of the story’ disguised with the stuff of eighth grade girls’ dreams. I realize Carson was employing them as mere examples but it’s still pretty hard to not get worked up when people mention them. (Maybe it’s because I matured after reading Twilight and felt scammed. Never tried Fifty Shades, though and never will.) When I come across reviews of books that feature covers with girls and boys in intimate poses with half lidded eyes, I don’t even read the title. I read contemporary romances only when I want to get over a book hangover or just kill time – like getting drunk and strip dancing (not that I would know anything about it). I also realize my YA favourites are looked down upon by some literary snobs (whose choices sometimes bore me to death) but I have my reasons – it’s because they keep amazing me.

But maybe Twihards have their reasons too. I don’t know.

Moral of the story: Do not attempt to decode the mind of yours truly.