In My Mailbox

Since I've been super busy until now (and haven't updated my blog), I decided to do my first IMM! :)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren, where we spotlight the books that we've received for review, swapped, or purchased that week. It's a really great idea and I'm excited to take part!

My mailbox has been pretty full this past week -- actually, past two weeks. Because whenever I go to the bookstore, I always manage to spend more than I planned to. x)

BOUGHT:

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (YAY!)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Where She Went by Gayle Forman
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr
The Secret Circle (The Initiation and The Captive Part I) by L.J.Smith

BORROWED:

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson
Wither by Lauren DeStefano
Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins
Paranormalcy by Kiersten White
Red Glove by Holly Black

RECEIVED:

Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton (from the amazing Lexie as a present -- love ya, Lex!)

I'm halfway through the pile and will be posting reviews soon -- please be patient! :)

What's in your mailbox? 

-Mimi

Love April

Despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of spring -- because I'll forever have a phobia of bugs and spring is an insect's most prominent season -- I love April. I love it because it's wet and cold but warm and dry at the same time. It's unpredictable. It's erratic. And it's just so beautiful.

Have you ever been on a walk through the rain? Maybe not getting soaked in a violent downpour but just walking down your street under an umbrella when it's drizzling. It has to be the most refreshing feeling ever.

But that's not what I wanted to talk about today. I wanted to share one of my favourite quotes by Cornelia Funke:

"Stories never really end...even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don't end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page."

Because that has to be one of the most true things about novels that I know. The author of a book only tells part of a story, the parts they see fit to tell, but there are always more things that happen that what is written. Read between the lines. Don't think that just because a book ends, it means that the story has ended too. Believing that there's more to the story, that there's still a future for these characters that we love, makes everything seem a whole lot more real.

-Mimi

RE: Negative reviews

This has to be one of my favourite responses to the negative-reviews controversy, written by the amazing Julie Kagawa, author of the Iron Fey series! You can go HERE to read it on her blog :)

Basically, Julie spoke what was on my mind also: that, no matter how good a book is, no mater how many people do love it, and no matter how much effort you put into creating and sharing this little piece of you, there are always going to be people who have negative opinions.

But it's only to be expected. Everyone has opinion, and everyone has a right to share it. The best thing for the offended writer to do is to just accept it graciously or turn a blind eye. You shouldn't rat out on the person just because they have an opinion, no matter how much you want to scream or cry. Just scream or cry to a close friend or sibling instead. If that fails, write a really mean response letter just to let out the frustration but tear it up instead of sending it.

I'm not saying that writers don't have a right to be hurt -- because God knows we do. A writer's book is like his/her second heart, and hearing bad reviews can be very hurtful. To be honest, I think that some words that critics use are just plain cruel.

--(Do you remember the phrase, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all"?)--

I'm only saying that we shouldn't give the critics the satisfaction of having us react badly to their antagonistic opinions. Hold your head high and focus on the good aspects of your book, or the good reviews, or the comforting words that your family and friends tell you (because, as much as we deny it, they do help).

Point is, there will always be two sides to the story. There will always be people who aren't afraid to speak their minds. I'm sure that there are at least a handful of people that disagree with my opinion on this matter, and I won't blame them. But keep in mind that I have an opinion too -- and so do the writers.

Goodreads is brutal. Bloggers can be very biased. Readers will love or hate your book, but we should be able to accept both the good and bad. Because, I promise you, there will always be some good to accompany the bad. :)

-Mimi