"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pick isSPELLCASTERby Claudia Gray. It's going to be published on March 5th, 2013 by HarperTeen.
Goodreads Summary:
When Nadia’s family moves to Captive’s Sound, she instantly realizes there’s more to it than meets the eye. Descended from witches, Nadia senses a dark and powerful magic at work in her new town. Mateo has lived in Captive’s Sound his entire life, trying to dodge the local legend that his family is cursed - and that curse will cause him to believe he’s seeing the future … until it drives him mad. When the strange dreams Mateo has been having of rescuing a beautiful girl—Nadia—from a car accident come true, he knows he’s doomed.
Despite the forces pulling them apart, Nadia and Mateo must work together to break the chains of his family’s terrible curse, and to prevent a disaster that threatens the lives of everyone around them. Shimmering with magic and mystery, New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray’s new novel is sure to draw fans of the Hex Hall and Caster Chronicles series, and fans of the hit CW TV show The Secret Circle.
Even though I own two of Claudia Gray's books I have yet to read any of them. But since I've only heard great things about her books and love the sound of Spellcaster, I really hope to get to read this one - especially since its release isn't that far away.
Scarlet by Marissa Meyer Series:Lunar Chronicles #2 Publisher: Puffin (Penguin UK) First published: February 7th, 2013 Source: Received from UK publisher Format: Paperback Pages: 424
Goodreads Summary: This is not the fairytale you remember. But it’s one you won’t forget.
Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. The police have closed her case. The only person Scarlet can turn to is Wolf, a street fighter she does not trust, but they are drawn to each other.
Meanwhile, in New Beijing, Cinder will become the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive – when she breaks out of prison to stay one step ahead of vicious Queen Levana.
As Scarlet and Wolf expose one mystery, they encounter Cinder and a new one unravels. Together they must challenge the evil queen, who will stop at nothing to make Prince Kai her husband, her king, her prisoner . . .
The following review might include spoilers for the first book.
After loving the first book, I couldn't wait for its sequel. And luckily my expectations were met. With lots of action and a wonderful world-builing, I'd recommend this series to everyone who is looking for something different and unique on the Young Adult market.
More detailed:
... the plot:
Still craving to know more about the Lunar Chronicles' mysteries after having read the first book, I was very excited to finally pick up Scarlet. To be honest, I was slightly scared as this seemed to be more like a companion novel since it introduces new narrators; but we still get to experience the world from Cinder and Kai's perspective a couple of times.
The things that are happening in this futuristic world are getting worse with almost every chapter and make it hard to put down this book. I was captivated by both, Cinder and Scarlet's stories and soon found myself crossing my fingers for both of them. The only thing that annoyed me sometimes was the change of perspective after chapters that had me dying to find out more - but in the end that's the charme of Scarlet and makes it even harder to put down.
... the characters:
Along with Kai and Cinder we get to meet some old characters again. Most of them aren't exactly the people I missed, but considering they play a crucial part in the storyI didn't expect anything else. I'm still hoping for this lovely couple to get their happy ending, but certain parts during Scarlet almost make me doubt that this could be possible.
Scarlet and Wolf are the two new narrators that are introduced, though we get to see more from Scarlet's point of view. Their love story is both, different and similar to Kai and Cinder's and already includes quite a few heart-breaking moments. Both of them are very likable characters, even though they didn't win me over as much as Kai and Cinder did. Of course we get to meet quite a few other new characters, too, who mostly play a smaller part. I love this variety of characters as it continues to surprise me.
... everything:
All in all, Scarlet is a wonderful second installment in this amazing series. These books definitely don't focus solely on romance, but incorporate many different elements to weave a story of heart-break and mysteries. Sometimes I honestly hoped for some more romantic moments, but I'm willing to wait - or rather hope - for these to make me happy in the third installment.
Have you read this series yet? What did you think about them so far?
If you haven't read any of the books yet, do you want to read them?
Welcome to Fictional Distractions of the Week. It is inspired by Book Journey's It's Monday! What are you reading? and Fiktshun's My Reading Pile and it will show you what I'm planning to read during the next week.
The books I plan to read this week:
Before I actually started reading Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally, I finished reading The Indigo Spell by Richelle Mead today, which means that this contemporary has a lot to live up to. I really enjoyed the previous two companion novels a lot, but am a little bit scared so far (I'm 10% into it right now) that it might be a tiny bit too religious for me.
Afterwards I'm hoping to read Gilt by Katherine Longshore which I've been wanting to read for the longest time. It's been sitting on my shelf for about one or two weeks and I'm finally going to get around to reading it. I definitely have to read a lot more historical novels and since I love the Tudor era, this is a very good opportunity to do so.
And maybe I'll even get around to start reading Wicked Kissby Michelle Rowen, which is the second book in the Nightwatchers series. I enjoyed the first installment surprisingly much and am therefore hoping to like this one just as much.
In late 20th century and early 21st century politics, what the public perceives visually - the "optics," in modern campaign-speak - is often as important, if not more important, as the actual words used.
It's said, for example, that people who heard the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates on radio were convinced that Nixon had won, whereas the people who saw them on TV saw a pale, sweaty, nervous-looking Nixon losing badly to the cool, urbane Kennedy.
I thought of that event while watching the president's State of the Union address and the GOP response this past Tuesday. Thousands of words have already been written about the content of both speeches, but it's clear that it was President Obama who won the battle of the optics.
A lot of the president's message was positive: Six million new jobs. The auto industry in the best shape it's been in in years. Less foreign oil imports than in the last 20 years. Rebounding housing and stock markets. Manufacturers bringing jobs back to America from Japan, Mexico and China. Both parties working together to reduce the deficit by more than $2.5 trillion.
The president looked forward to and expressed hope for bipartisanship on things like immigration, joint business/government partnerships for research and development, and education. He looked as he usually does: calm, upbeat and confident, while Vice President Joe Biden beamed genially from behind him.
Meanwhile, House Speaker John Boehner sulked in his chair, looking like a man undergoing a painful and invasive medical procedure. He refused to join in standing ovations for veterans, school shooting victims, or even the 102-year-old woman who'd stood in line for seven hours to vote in Florida.
He looked less like a guy you'd want to have a beer with than the angry, bitter old man at the end of the bar who you'd want to stay away from unless you wanted to hear an hour of Scotch-fueled ranting about how terrible everything is, especially those damned kids.
Then came the GOP response, delivered by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Now, Rubio seems like a likable enough young man, but his speech was a visual disaster.
From the lighting that looked like something on public-access cable, to the sweat beading on Rubio's upper lip, to the terrible dry mouth from which he seemed to be suffering, the whole production was cringe-worthy. I used to work in a TV studio, and the whole mess made me wonder if the producer was an agent of the DNC.
Then came The Drink: the moment when Rubio looked around desperately for his water bottle, then ducked down nearly off screen to get it before gulping it loudly like a man who'd just staggered out of the desert.
And a joke was born. Within an hour, "Rubioing" - taking pictures of oneself drinking water or other liquids and posting them online - had become an instant fad. "Rubio's Water Bottle" suddenly had no fewer than 15 parody accounts on Twitter. Pictures proliferated of Rubio as The Most Interesting Man in the World from the Dos Equis commercials saying some variation on "Stay Thirsty, My Friends."
The message might have been able to overcome the visuals, had the response itself not been so pedestrian. It was standard Republican boilerplate, less a response to the actual State of the Union than a recitation of the familiar catch phrases and talking points that did so poorly in the last presidential election.
The "idea that our problems were caused by a government that was too small - it's just not true," Rubio intoned. It's also not what the president said. But then, Republicans are always more comfortable trying to refute points that were never made.
Really, though, why should something like The Drink get so much attention? The guy just wanted some water, right?
In a sane world, I'd agree. But we do not live in a sane world. We live in the age of the viral video and the Internet meme, an "optics"-driven environment where a politician who, like Rubio, is being touted as a potential presidential contender can't afford to look as awkward and amateurish as he did Tuesday night.
Can Rubio come back from it? Well, maybe. He did one very smart thing: join in the joke by posting his own water-bottle pictures on Twitter. And of course, Nixon won the presidency years later. But the difference is that Nixon's brand of paranoid conservatism had not yet come into its own in 1960, and wouldn't until after the upheavals of the '60s.
Nixon, sad to say, was ahead of his unhappy time. The demographics of a changing electorate have put Rubio and Boehner behind theirs. The best optics in the world can't change that.
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pick is THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US by Kasie West. It's going to be published on July 2nd, 2013 by HarperTeen.
Goodreads Summary:
Seventeen-year-old Caymen Meyers studies the rich like her own personal science experiment, and after years of observation she’s pretty sure they’re only good for one thing—spending money on useless stuff, like the porcelain dolls in her mother’s shop.
So when Xander Spence walks into the store to pick up a doll for his grandmother, it only takes one glance for Caymen to figure out he’s oozing rich. Despite his charming ways and that he’s one of the first people who actually gets her, she’s smart enough to know his interest won’t last. Because if there’s one thing she’s learned from her mother’s warnings, it’s that the rich have a short attention span. But Xander keeps coming around, despite her best efforts to scare him off. And much to her dismay, she's beginning to enjoy his company.
She knows her mom can’t find out—she wouldn’t approve. She’d much rather Caymen hang out with the local rocker who hasn’t been raised by money. But just when Xander’s attention and loyalty are about to convince Caymen that being rich isn’t a character flaw, she finds out that money is a much bigger part of their relationship than she’d ever realized. And that Xander’s not the only one she should’ve been worried about.
In the past weeks I've been reading many more contemporary novels than usually, so of course I fell in love with one for this week's Waiting on Wednesday. I just love the sound of this story and really hope it's as different from our usual contemporaries as it sounds.
A Witch Alone by Ruth Warburton Series:Winter #3 Publisher: Hodder Children's Books (Hachette UK) First published: February 7th, 2013 Source: Received from publisher Format: Paperback Pages: 422
Goodreads Summary: Where do you go when your heart has been ripped out?
For Anna there is only one answer; into her past, where the truth about her mother, her power, and her real identity lie hidden.
But as Anna delves deeper into her history, she begins to fear that the truth about what set her mother running may be darker than she ever suspected. With the witches of the world on the brink of war, Seth gone, and her friend Abe wanting more from her than she can possibly give, Anna is in crisis.
As the clouds around her gather, Anna is torn between friends, family and rival tribes of witches and – at the last – between love and magic.
This review might include spoilers for previous books of this series.
As the conclusion of a wonderful series, A Witch Alone has many moments that broke my heart. At the same time there happened many other things that could make me smile again, even though I was constantly hoping for a happy ending, which I could never expect at any moment during the story. If you were hoping for an exciting last installment, don't hesitate to finish reading this amazing series.
More detailed:
... the plot:
I was already dying to get my hands on a copy of A Witch Alone after the ending of the second book. Therefore I couldn't wait long to read it once I finally had it and am very happy I did so. There happened so many things that I definitely didn't expect. Twists and turns had me guessing and I'm sure I'm not the only one. While I'm still not completely sure what to feel about the ending, which lacked a certain spark in comparison with the rest of the book, I'm still happy with the conclusion of this series and would love to re-read it one day.
... the characters:
Oh Anna, selfless little Anna. My heart definitely broke for her more than once while reading A Witch Alone. But sometimes I wanted to shout at her nonetheless to try to make her see that accepting help can be the better solution. Not wanting to endanger the people she loves, she ends up in situations that aren't better than the ones she feared and has to realize that she can't do everything on her own.
Still, my favorite character of this series is Abe. I fell in love with him during the first book and loved every scene with him ever since. He sometimes reminds me a tiny bit like a rougher version of Adrian (Vampire Academy / Bloodlines), which would definitely explain why I like him so much. His love for his friends is unconditional even though I didn't like some of his reactions toward the end.
Of course I cannot forget to mention Seth, who is the origin of many painful moments, which I'm happy about though. A love story like Anna and Seth's can never be easy and I'm very satisfied with Ruth's approach throughout the books. Both of them make many mistakes, but that's what makes them so wonderfully realistic.
... everything:
All in all, A Witch Alone is an amazing and satisfying last installment, even though I still would have preferred a more exciting ending scene. I loved reading this series and can't wait for Ruth Warburton to write more books for me to read. If you want to delve into a world of magic and mysteries, I'm sure you'll enjoy this series!
Have you read this series? If yes, what did you think about it?
One of my favorite movies in the so-bad-it's-awesome genre is director John Milius' 1984 right-wing paranoid fever dream "Red Dawn."
This American cinematic masterpiece tells the story of a group of teenagers who take to the hills and engage in an insurgency against an invading Soviet/Cuban force that, for some reason, begins the conquest of the United States by attacking a high school in the hinterlands of Colorado.
Naming themselves the "Wolverines" after their local sports mascot, the plucky teens (played by, among others, Patrick Swayze and a pre-insanity Charlie Sheen) disrupt and sabotage the occupation, all while maintaining their perfect '80s hair.
It was a fun movie, largely because it was so completely absurd, sort of like Milius' other '80s masterpiece, "Conan the Barbarian."
Sadly, however, a lot of America's current gun debate seems to be driven by people who think this movie is some sort of manual for political action. We need to have high-powered military-style weapons, they assert, in case we have to take to the hills and go full Wolverine, this time against our own government.
Their poster child is James Yeager, the fellow from Tennessee who declared on YouTube that he was going to get his gun, fill his backpack with food, and "start killing people" over executive orders that no one had even read yet.
You know, I remember when even mildly criticizing the President Who Must Not Be Named in a newspaper column was enough to draw angry letters and emails accusing me of treason. It was, after all, a time of war. Now, a few years later, we're still supposed to be at war, but these Wannabe Wolverines talk openly about needing assault weapons and lots o' bullets to commit actual treason because they're mad at Barack Obama for - well, they're just mad at Barack Obama.
As we've seen from the example of Mr. Yeager above, the president doesn't really have to have done anything to excite their rage. I'm not sure what the Wannabe Wolverines think they're going to do, even with the most tricked-out AR-15, against an Army that can field attack helicopters, artillery, bombers, drones, tanks, etc.
If you really follow their "logic," then the right to bear arms would also include the right to anti-tank weapons, land mines, shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, etc. But, you know, that would be crazy.
So let's leave aside teenage-movie fantasies about taking on The Man with the AR-15 in your gun safe. Let's recall Justice Scalia's statement in the landmark D.C. v. Heller case that "the Second Amendment right is not unlimited. It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose" and approving of the "historical tradition of prohibiting the carrying of dangerous and unusual weapons." So why not a blanket ban on assault weapons?
Well, the last time we tried to do that, it didn't work too well, largely because they tried to define "assault weapon" using the same criteria the medieval peasants in the movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" used to ID a witch: "It looks like one!"
Many of the characteristics that defined a banned weapon were cosmetic: folding stocks, pistol grips, barrel shrouds and the like. Manufacturers found it childishly easy to circumvent the law by making minor changes and giving the banned weapon a new model number. They didn't address the core characteristic that made people want to ban assault weapons, then and now: the ability to mow down lots of people, very fast, without reloading.
I've said before that the problem of gun violence in this country can be summed up as "too many guns in the hands of too many crazy people." Upon reflection, I'd amend that to "too many guns able to throw too many bullets in the hands of too many crazy people."
To solve this problem, we need a solution that addresses all of those. That means better mental health services, better background checks, and - yes - some limitation on the availability of high-power, high-capacity weapons.
While polls show that a simple "assault weapons" ban sounds good to a majority of Americans, to just slap on a ban and walk away thinking the problem's solved would be as simple-minded as the fantasies of the Wannabe Wolverines. In the words of another great film, it's not our job to be as confused as they are.
All kidding and all film references aside, life is not like the movies. Complicated problems require multifaceted solutions, and we need to start considering all our options and not let the entire conversation being about one kind of weapon.
The Culture War is over. The Republicans lost. Hey, don't take my word for it. I found out when I read about an interview given last week by one Dave Kochel, a former adviser to the campaign of a guy named Mitt Romney. (Remember Mitt Romney? I hear he ran for President once.)
Kochel gave an interview on a TV station in his home state of Iowa, in which he mentioned, as many others have, the "demographic shift" in the country and how younger voters want to move away from "the arguments we've been having" on the culture wars, which "the Republicans largely lost."
He described a growing number of Republicans, including former RNC Chairman and George W. Bush adviser Ken Mehlman, who are openly advocating marriage equality for gays and lesbians. Kochel also mentioned that for his children's generation, issues such as abortion and birth control are "largely settled," and not in a way that would make Rick Santorum happy.
He wound up by observing that he hears "a lot of conversation off the record, people talking about how they'd like to move on past some of these old fights we've been having, and can't talk about it."
It should be remembered that Kochel, according to his company's website, is the guy who advised Lord Mitt, the Earl of Romney, in "Iowa, Colorado, Nevada, and nationally" - all arenas in which His Lordship lost.
But don't take just his word for it either. The Boy Scouts of America abruptly announced that they're reconsidering their ban on gay members and leaders; the Defense Department finally lifted the ban on women in combat; and right wing poster girl and Culture Warrior Queen Sarah Palin got ignominiously dropped by Faux News.
Oh, and Jim Nabors, Mayberry's very own Gomer Pyle, married his male partner after 38 years.
On other fronts as well, the storm troops of the far right have begun to abandon the redoubts they once vowed to defend.
Republican and Democratic leaders got together on an immigration reform proposal that included a "path to citizenship" for the undocumented, something that was once as unthinkable to a right wing Culture Warrior as surrender would have been to a World War II-era Japanese soldier.
The House, as noted last week, passed a bill raising the debt ceiling without the spending cuts the Teahadists once claimed were the hill they'd chosen to die on (and take the U.S. economy with them) rather than surrender. Across this great land of ours, there are signs that we may be seeing The Twilight of the Wingnuts.
Now, I don't expect the most fanatical Culture Warriors to throw down their arms and greet the victors with flowers. It would take a complete chump to believe a war would end like that. I expect that there'll be some diehards and dead-enders who'll take to the hills in a sort of insurgency.
They'll probably engage in a few acts of political hostage-taking and terrorism by threatening to blow things up if they don't get their way. Metaphorically speaking, of course. At least I hope so.
And I know that for the next few years, we'll be finding islands with holdouts who refuse to admit that the war is over. In fact, I suspect we may be living on one such island right now here in North Carolina.
But demographics are inexorable. In 1992, Pat Buchanan rose from the ashes of his own defeated presidential campaign and declared the Culture War - in a speech, it should be noted, that helped move me from a moderate seriously considering voting for Bush the Elder into a confirmed Clinton liberal. But Buchanan is 74 now and finding it harder to find a network who'll let him on.
His sister Bay, also once an ubiquitous right wing pundit, has reportedly given up the fight and gotten her real estate license.
Most of the formerly reliable foot soldiers of the Culture War are getting pretty long in the tooth. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who's only crazy about 85 percent of the time, called it while in a lucid interval: "We're not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business over the long term."
So the signs give me hope that the Teahadists of the Rabid Right will continue their long decline, their Wingnutdammerung, if you will, and the Republican Party can free itself from their tyranny. Then maybe we can start having some rational debates over issues in this country.
There won't be as much material for mockery, but it's a small price to pay.
New Distractions is a weekly feature on Fictional Distraction, inspired by various memes that make us share the new books we got during a week, e.g. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, This Week in Books by Pop Culture Junkie and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews.
Huge thanks to Hachette Children's Books UK and Simon & Schuster UK.
I definitely freaked out a little bit this week with these awesome books arriving in my mailbox. I've been super excited to read all three of these and am actually already reading A Witch Alone. The only hard thing to do will be to put off reading Fractured until the end of March, so I can publish its review closer to its release date. Not sure if I'll be able to wait so long.
Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt Publisher: St. Martin's Press First published:January 15th, 2013 Source: NetGalley Format: eARC Pages: 240
Goodreads Summary:
Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.
Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys is a story of breaking down and growing up.
I'd recommend this for an older audience (16+).
My Rating: 2.5 / 5
First thoughts:
Turning out to be completely different than I expected, Uses for Boys still was a fast and easy read, but had many moments and scenes that disturbed me. Considering the almost explicit sexual content in some parts, I'd definitely recommend this for older teens.
More detailed:
... the plot and the narration:
Even before I started reading Uses for Boys, I knew that it wouldn't be a light contemporary read. I had heard that it can be slightly depressing and heart-breaking, but since I knew what to expect I didn't mind that. Of course I felt very sorry for Anna, who was simply trying to find someone she could call family. The first person narrator tells the story from her point of view and while it focuses very strongly on her thoughts and less on dialogues and "action", I found it quite easy to read.
Nonetheless I was very surprised by the amount of sexual content in Uses for Boys. I'm definitely not a prude and usually prefer more "grown up" Young Adult novels, but at times I was a little bit disturbed by certain scenes in this story. Considering Anna's life circumstances it's somewhat easy to understand that she's looking for love and approval in people she should have just ignored, but I'm not sure whether this is the right reading material for younger teens.
... the characters:
Anna thinks back to the first years of her life very positively, remembering a mother who loves her more than anything. But with her mother's continuous quest to find the love of her life, Anna starts to feel left alone. This makes her try to find love again, searching for the perfect boyfriend. While I definitely felt sorry for her, I sadly couldn't connect with her completely. I'm not sure though whether this is because of the slightly unusual style of narration or Anna's naivety. Sadly I could connect even less with the secondary characters, who we don't get to know very well thanks to the focus on Anna's point of view and emotions. To be honest, I wanted to hate most of them since only very few seemed to really care about the poor girl.
... everything:
I'm not exactly sure how to categorize Uses for Boys. Considering Anna's age and the coming-of-age feeling to the story, I'd call it a Young Adult novel. But the sexual content is a little bit hard to ignore and would rather make me think of this as a mixture of Young and New Adult. All in all, it was a very easy and fast read, but it's definitely not one of my favorite books. Though if you're looking for something unconventional and unique to read, you should definitely give this a chance.
So, within a few days, the House passes a bill raising the debt ceiling without the draconian spending cuts the Teabagger Caucus claimed were an absolute condition for such a raise; Sarah Palin gets ignominiously dropped by Faux News; the Defense Department lifts the ban on women in combat; Republicans and Democrats in the Senate get together on an immigration reform package that provides a "path to citizenship" for the undocumented; and the Boy Scouts of America are reported to be actively considering lifting the ban on gay members and scout leaders. A former Romney adviser admits that "the culture wars are over and Republicans largely lost."
Now, I've been fighting these wacked out, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, everything-but-them-phobic nutballs for so long, I'm not taking a victory lap just yet. There's still a lot to do. But you've got to admit, it's the best time to be a liberal that we've seen in a long, long time.
You know, it would be very easy to make fun of Orange John Boehner and the House Republicans over their capitulation this past Wednesday on the debt ceiling.
You may have missed the story, because the media were more obsessed in the past week with a much more important issue- namely, "Who knew that Beyonce lip-synced the national anthem, and when did they know it?"
So in case you've forgotten what the debt ceiling fuss was about, let's review.
First, just as they did during the fake "fiscal cliff" crisis, the so-called "deficit hawks" of the GOP blustered and puffed up their chests and insisted that yes, by golly, they were perfectly willing to destroy the country's credit rating and plunge us back into recession if they didn't get massive spending cuts in exchange for agreeing to pay the bills we already have.
Then, when the president said he wasn't going to knuckle under or negotiate again in the face of that kind of terrorism, they went completely hysterical, howled, "OMG! OBAMA IS WORSE THAN HITLER!" and vowed a fight to the death. So, as you can no doubt see, it'd be easy to mock them when they meekly cave in and pass a three-month extension of the debt ceiling without a single spending cut.
But I'm not going to do that.
I'm not going to do that because I think that on the rare occasion that the Republicans act like grownups, they ought to be commended for it. Besides, the one condition they did come up with actually contains the seed of a good idea.
The bill contains a provision that any house of Congress that doesn't pass a budget by April 15 doesn't get its pay. Unfortunately, the 27th Amendment says that "No law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect until an election of Representatives shall have intervened," so the best they could probably do would be to temporarily withhold their salaries - not, say, donate them to Planned Parenthood or the NRA or something like that.
But hey, it's a start. And at long last, we'll finally get the Republicans to do two things: (1) admit that while the president can propose a budget (and has), budgets are made by the legislative branch, and that talking about "Obama's spending" is disingenuous at best; and (2) finally come clean on exactly what it is they want to cut.
Up until now, the GOP line has been, "You Democrats have to give us spending cut proposals, so they look like your idea." They do this because they know if people saw what they really want to cut, they'd be even less popular than they are now. But now they're stuck, which is a good thing.
The only problem I have with the "no budget, no pay" idea is that under the current proposal, if one of the houses comes up with a budget, any budget, its members get paid. There's no real incentive for the Republican-controlled House to come up with a budget they know has a chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, and vice versa.
Indeed, both the House's Paul Ryan and the Senate's Patty Murray have vowed to quickly come up with proposed budgets, each of which is pretty much guaranteed to give the other house's majority party the hives.
So here's my idea: If a budget isn't passed by both houses and signed by the president by April 15, nobody gets paid. Not the senators, not the representatives, not the president. No Democrats, no Republicans, no independents. If they don't come up with something everyone can live with by May 1, then the sergeants-at-arms of both houses will be ordered to remove all the chairs from the House and Senate chambers and all legislative offices. Let 'em work standing up. (I confess, I stole this last part from a legendary tale of a crusty old judge trying to motivate a hung jury to make a decision.)
If that doesn't work, by May 15, we chain the chamber doors shut with all of them inside. No budget by June 1? Cut off the air conditioning. If you've ever been in D.C. in the summer, you know what that means. We'll either get a budget arrived at by fair negotiation and compromise, or we'll need to elect a new Congress.
Welcome to Fictional Distractions of the Week. It is inspired by Book Journey's It's Monday! What are you reading? and Fiktshun's My Reading Pile and it will show you what I'm planning to read during the next week.
The books I plan to read this week:
At first, I'll finish reading Hooked by Liz Fichera. I'm about 25% in while scheduling this post and so far I'm definitely intrigued enough to want to continue reading as fast as possible. I don't know much about golf and while I would wish for more explanations, it's not really confusing and very easy to read. Hope it'll continue to be like this.
Afer that I'll finally be reading Stealing Parker, which I've been wanting to read for the longest time. Since I'll be participating in the third book's blog tour in March, I really want to read this installment first, even though I doubt it's necessary since they're "just" companion novels.
And because I just cannot decide, I'll let you choose my third read for this week:
New Distractions is a weekly feature on Fictional Distraction, inspired by various memes that make us share the new books we got during a week, e.g. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, This Week in Books by Pop Culture Junkie and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews.
Huge thanks to Abrams & Chronicle Books UK, P.T. Michelle, Harlequin UK (via NetGalley) and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (via NetGalley).
As I couldn't wait to delve into it, I already read and loved Ethan - you can read my review here. But I'm equally excited for these other über-awesome books and hope to get to read them as soon as possible. I was especially crossing my fingers to get approved for Infatuate, since I loved the first book and am dying to find out more about this world!
Ethan by P.T. Michelle Series: Brightest Kind of Darkness #0.5 Publisher: Self-Published First published: January 11th, 2013 Source: Received from author Format: eBook (Kindle) Pages: n/a
Goodreads Summary:
Ethan Harris never thought monsters and darkness would consume his daily thoughts, but every night the same visions repeat in his dreams. He’s careful to project a semblance of normalcy, keeping the suffocating darkness locked inside. As much as he wishes he could focus on girls, sports, and cars like other seventeen-year-olds; nothing distracts him from his own demons or shines through.
Until Nara Collins crosses his path. The blonde fascinates and intrigues him, giving him a measure of peace he’s never felt before.
When Ethan discovers there’s more to Nara than she allows others to see, that she might have a unique secret of her own, suddenly his world comes into focus.
I've been in love with this series ever since I read Brightest Kind of Darkness, so of course I had to read this prequel novella as well. It's told from Ethan's point of view and starts off even before he and Nara have met, which gives us an idea about what his life used to be like. Instead of just filling the time until the release of the third installment, it adds more dimension to the story, especially after we didn't get to see Ethan a lot in Lucid.
There has never been a doubt that Ethan is a great character, but witnessing certain moments from his point of view just makes me love him even more. His life is anything but easy, but he still seems to care more for others than for himself. Witnessing his interactions with animals is both heart breaking and beautiful.
Of course my favorite part is when he sees Nara for the first time and develops feelings for her. Those two are such a wonderful couple and I'm already crossing my fingers for them to get their happy ending. All in all, Ethan is a wonderful prequel for a series that will always be one of my favorites. If you haven't read Brightest Kind of Darkness yet, I'd recommend you to pick up a copy of these books immediately.
"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.
This week's pick is WINTER QUEEN by Amber Argyle. It's going to be published on June 19th, 2013 by Starling Publishing.
Goodreads Summary:
~Becoming a winter queen will make Ilyenna as cold and cruel and deadly as winter itself, but it might be the only way to save her people from a war they have no hope of winning.~
Mortally wounded during a raid, seventeen-year-old Ilyenna is healed by winter fairies who present her with a seductive offer: become one of them and share their power over winter. But that power comes with a price. If she accepts, she will become a force of nature, lose her humanity, and abandon her family.
Unwilling to pay such a high price, Ilyenna is enslaved by one of the invaders, Darrien. While in captivity, she learns the attack wasn’t just a simple raid but part of a larger plot to overthrow her entire nation.
With the enemy stealing over the mountains and Darrien coming to take her to his bed, Ilyenna must decide whether to resurrect the power the fairies left behind. Doing so will allow her to defeat Darrien and the other invaders, but if she embraces winter, she will lose herself to that destroying power—forever.
I'm almost tempted to say that this cover would be enough reason to pick up Winter Queen. So gorgeous! But the actual reason why I put this onto my to-read list is the fact that it's been way too long since I've read an awesome faerie novel and this one sounds really great. Can't wait to find out more about it!
“… in precisely which “tactical” scenarios do all of these lunatics imagine that they’re going to use their matte-black, suppressor-fitted, flashlight-ready tactical weapons?” I think we have to talk about what I call the Red Dawn fantasy. Red Dawn of course refers to the very entertaining film in which The Wolverines, a bunch of kids from a rural western community, heroically engage a division of Cuban paratroopers and their Soviet advisors who invade the United States at the start of World War III. If you ask those who insist they must own one or more assault rifles and semi-automatic pistols with high capacity magazines, the answer you’ll hear over and over again is: I want to be ready to defend America against the Commies, the terrorists, the immigrant invaders, the United Nations, and yes, even the government of the United States of America. That’s the Red Dawn fantasy. It’s time we saw it for the paranoid delusion it is, and stop giving craziness the legitimacy of the Second Amendment. The gun debate shouldn’t be about whether we need armed guards in every school, movie theater, and place of worship. I shouldn’t be about hunting rifles or weapons for home or personal defense. Take the Red Dawn fantasy out of the equation, and we’ll have no problem coming up with a sensible gun policy in America. But as long as it persists, and as long as we let a delusional minority dictate the terms of the debate, we’re accepting more mass shootings as the price we have to pay. h/t: TPM Editor's Blog
Latest Newspaper Column: An epidemic is sweeping America. It has visited us before, but this January it’s come early and this strain appears to be particularly virulent, even dangerous. Oh, you thought I meant the flu? Well, yeah, that’s bad too, but what I’m talking about here is another outbreak of SWORS: Spasmodic Wingnut Outrage Syndrome. As you regular readers know, SWORS is a disease of the central nervous system particularly prevalent among members of the American right wing. SWORS sufferers experience a significant degradation in upper level brain function, leading to a near-total loss of any sense of proportion. They become prone to manic outbursts of indignation and rage over trivial or even imaginary events. The latest outbreak can be traced to a remark made by Vice President Joe Biden while speaking about the plan he was working on to curb gun violence in the wake of the horrific school shootings in Newtown Connecticut. Part of the plan, Biden said, might include “executive orders” by the President, actions taken under the power of his office that didn’t need to be voted on by Congress. Now, anyone who knows anything about this country’s Constitutional separation of powers would realize that what can be done purely by executive order is limited, and certainly do not include a blanket ban on semi-automatic weapons or high capacity magazines. You can at least rest assured that Barack Obama, a former Constitutional Law professor, knows this. This did not stop SWORS sufferers from immediately concluding that “the plan might include executive orders” meant that Biden was actually saying “OBAMA’S GONNA TAKE ALL YOUR GUNS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!”
Reaction followed the classic pattern of SWORS, including overly dramatic public statements of irrationally disproportionate anger. Washed up rocker and gun advocate Ted Nugent claimed gun owners were going to be “the new Rosa Parks.” Tennessee resident James Yeager, CEO of a company that trains people in “tactical skills” and who has an online shop selling “tactical” equipment, put up a YouTube video in which he stared into the camera with what I suppose was supposed to be a look of fierce determination but actually more closely resembled psychotic rage.
“I’m not [bad word] putting up with this,” Yeager snapped during a profanity-laced tirade. “I’m not letting my country be ruled by a dictator. I’m not letting anybody take my guns! If it goes one inch further, I’m going to start killing people.” The state of Tennessee promptly suspended Yeager’s gun permit. Hint: when you go on YouTube loudly announcing that you plan to start killing people, don’t get all surprised if the state acts like you might be serious. Yeager later apologized. According to the Huffington Post, he stated "It's not time to shoot anybody," while sitting next to a lawyer (who no doubt, wished fervently that Yeager had come to him before openly making terrorist threats on the Internet). When the proposed plan was revealed on Wednesday, the “executive order” provisions had nothing on confiscation or banning of any guns. They promised that the Executive Branch would, among other things, “nominate an ATF Director"; “develop model emergency response plans for schools, houses of worship and institutions of higher education," and "issue a Presidential Memorandum to require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations." Any limitations on types of weapons or high capacity magazines would be left to the Congress, although the President did call upon the Congress to enact those, which given the makeup of the current Congress, is a pretty long shot, so to speak. Expansion of the background check requirement to include gun shows stands a better chance, but the President still left that up to Congress, while issuing executive orders that would make information more readily available for those. Hardly the sort of stuff to send the citizenry to the barricades. Sadly, however, another symptom of SWORS is the inability to hear what someone has actually said. Instead, the SWORS victim reacts to a voice which apparently only they can hear. Republican representative Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, for example, demanded that the Obama Administration “enforce current laws,” apparently not noticing that some of the executive orders called for just that: they require that the government “maximize enforcement efforts to prevent gun violence and prosecute gun crime” and “require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations.” RNC Chairman Reince Preibus called the plan an “executive power grab,” while failing to specify a single one of the executive orders that does not fall squarely within the President’s Executive authority. Sadly, there is no known cure for SWORS, since it renders its victims incapable of logic or persuasion. Even more sadly, it’s not just the infected person who suffers. It’s all of us.
