A discussion with P.E. and Mari.

With the change in Goodreads' reviewing standards prohibiting a reader from reviewing a book with mention to the author, and with the controversy of Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, I've begun to wonder about the impact of an author on their book. Let's begin with Goodreads: should a review ever mention the author? 

I don't know about others, but I do mention the author every now and then. How can one not mention the author? In my opinion, the book is the author in many ways. It's their genius or sometimes not so much, but either way, by critiquing the book you're critiquing the author's work, their writing and their skill. What's your take?

This was probably a stupid question to begin with because I'm not a person of absolutes. I think it's okay to mention the author; we've both established that. Now, to what extent? Should personal feelings of an author be part of an honest judgement of their book?

I would say moderation is key. It's really important to focus on the word honest. It's not very honest if one reviews a book based on their preconceived notions of the author. That defies the point of an honest review. You can read a book with a horrid cover, but once you start reading, the cover shouldn't bug you and neither should your feelings on the author. I guess what I'm trying to say is, review their work not what you read in the gossip column about them.

Okay, so I'm assuming you know all about the Orson Scott Card situation. (If not, Google is your friend :) ) If I were to read a book by him, should I mention how I feel about his values? Would that have any place within the book? And is it legitimate to refuse to read a book because of the author? I'm not asking whether you can or can't do that- obviously, everyone can do whatever they want; it's none of my business. Reading pieces like this (h/t to We Heart YA for the link!) emphasize two things in my mind. First, we are people and people change. I can have one very strong opinion about and issue and I can change it later on. That's my prerogative. Second, a book doesn't have to necessarily preach the author's values. What if it's preaching a good message? How do you reconcile that?

As you said, I cannot tell you what you can and cannot do, which is one of the problems with the Goodreads situation. If you feel like talking about Card's values halfway through your review then all the more power to you. I haven't read or really plan on reading any of his books (has nothing to do with the present situation) but I would say that the art is not always the artist. Many struggle with appreciating Hitler's art due to the horrible person that he was and that's fine. Not everyone can separate the artist from the art, I know sometimes I can't. There are book that I wont read because of their authors, but as long as I don't type up a long review on why the book stunk due to its author I think I'm doing my part as an honest reviewer. 

I also won't read certain books because of the author. Some authors have let me down too many times for me to ever want to read another book of theirs. I'm not sure however how an author acts has the biggest influence on my reading habits. In general, I don't stay up to date with all the author gossip and I don't really want to. I think the most my opinion can be influenced by an author is in positive ways. Lauren DeStefano is so cool on Twitter that she got me to read Fever. I'm forever a fan of Sarah Rees Brennan just because she's so hilarious, so these authors affect their books positively. Have you ever purposely boycotted a book because of an author's behaviour? 

Maybe unconsciously. Like if the author is racist or openly advocates hate, things that I'm morally against then I think I would naturally gravitate away from them and their work. But, this would require me to be very knowledgeable about the current author gossip, which I'm not. Overall my stance as a reader and reviewer is do what you enjoy and what you can live with. If I enjoy a book I will respect the author for it despite the person they are. Or at least I would like think so, since this hasn't been put to the test :) What's your stance?

I separate books and their authors, for the most part. A book does not represent an author's views and I won't be ashamed to read it. However, I have no problem with people consciously deciding to not read a book by an author they don't want to support. Undoubtedly, they have their reasons. At the end of the day though, the author doesn't really influence my opinion on books too much. 

What do you think?

Have you ever seen a book that seems to have a gazillion pages and does not want to end? And god forbid, someone you like recommends it to you. Horrified, you shamefully turn away, trying to ignore the fact that you can't begin to imagine reading the goliath of a book that is larger than your head!

No! I'm not cracking.

However, every once in a blue moon you find that one book that sounds so compelling, so extraordinary that you don't care what the cover looks like, let alone the 10 billion pages that it is composed of. In fact, you crave more and don't understand how that 10 billion could be insufficient. 

I've had a few of these in my reading life span and they are golden. Recently, I stumbled on another, The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons. I had seen it around before but didn't know what it was about until I wrote a post talking about how I wished to read books set in other places, preferably Russia. Low and behold, an amazing commentator recommended this one and I was done for. Thank you!

I like to think of myself as a moderate paced reader, but a dedicated reader. I'm not too fast, I tend to slow down when I'm really into a book, and that helps me absorb all the details. This also decreases the chances of me forgetting the story. I will forget my favourite biology unit the day after the test but my favourite book, I remember everything. Well maybe not everything, but you know what I mean!

I finished this one in a week. Screw homework, who needs sleep and food? What's that? The characters are starving; do you have no humanity?! I don't know if I'll ever be able to review The Bronze Horseman, even though I've officially plowed through the second book, which took me 2 days and I'm now slowly making my way through the final book, The Summer Gardens as I don't want it to end.

The Bronze Horseman, is not a young adult novel, but it in no way alienates young adults from reading it. The protagonist, Tatiana Metanova is 17 when the book starts but she grows as the series continues and so does the reader. Her pains, sufferings, love and friendship will make you laugh, cry and cheer for joy.

This book has aged me, it has made me dauntless. I no longer fear the size of a book. I remember being like this before, when I first jacked up the courage to read Harry Potter in the 6th grade; I never noticed the length. Same goes to the Gemma Doyle Trilogy back in the 9th grade. Now I'm in grade 12, on the verge of a new stage in my life and I'm happy to say that I have reached another milestone in my reading adventures.

Thank you, Paullina Simons and thank you books of gargantuan capacity for excellence. You are awesome.

-Mari

Teen Author Fest is the best way to meet some of your favourite authors in Ottawa. I read Code Name Verity a while ago and the story impressed me. The writing is fantastic, and the plot is compelling. I jumped at the opportunity to meet the author behind the book, Elizabeth Wein, on September 24th at Sunnyside library.

There was a cozy atmosphere as Elizabeth Wein introduced herself and talked a little about her new book, Rose Under Fire. It's the story of a young, American pilot who wants to join the war effort during the second world war.

There's something about authors that I've always found extremely cool. They speak a certain way and it's very distinguishable. They paint pictures with their words and during Elizabeth's reading, it was fun to fall into the story.

One thing that became clear immediately was Elizabeth's love of planes. She read a passage in which Rose is being "intercepted" and later on explained what that meant. She also talked about actually mapping out the flight routes from her novels and the research that went into writing a "historical" type novel. She also ended up visiting the site Ravensbruck, which waa a concentration camp for "female political prisoners" and some of the struggles the prisoners encountered, such as language barriers.

When she opened up the floor for fans to ask questions, one person asked about women's role in World War 2. Elizabeth's books had ways included strong women like pilots Maddie and Rose, and it was interesting to hear that women did have an active role in the war.

When it was time for signings, Elizabeth made sure to speak with every single fan on a personal basis, which I thought was nice of her. During the event, she also made sure to thank bloggers for helping to spread the word about her book.

I thought it was a great event and Elizabeth Wein was an extremely cool person. Her tour must have been long but she was gracious with everyone and I hope she gets some rest when she returns home to Scotland.

-P.E.