Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Reread, Rewrite, Burn Tag

Thank you to the lovely Liz over at Out of Coffee, Out of Mind for this tag. I'm glad that I finally got around to it. Send up a prayer for her when you think about it; she's had a rough couple weeks, from the sound of things. 

So, this is essentially a fun--if painful--tag wherein I took the last 15 books I read, sorted them into groups of three using a random number generator, and now have to decide which book I'd like to reread, which I'd like to rewrite, and which I'd like to burn (or just not read again).

I've left links to my reviews of books that I've featured on the blog. Others have "upcoming" reviews (you typically don't see my book review until a month or so after I've read it) and others don't fit in with what I review here.

Ready? Here goes:

Group One

Re-read: Kingdom's Edge


Burn: The Killer Angels


This group was somewhat difficult, mainly because I couldn't decide which book I would want to re-write more. I love Kingdom's Edge, but it would sort of be fun to see it written at a higher level than its current middle-grad audience. Third Starlighter had some things I'd really like to iron out, so I ended up choosing it. As much as I enjoyed The Killer Angels, which is about the battle of Gettysburg, I could be perfectly happy without re-reading it. 

Group Two



Burn: Spirit Fighter (Review Upcoming)


The re-read was a no brainer on this one. Daughter of Light is on my real life re-read list. I loved Spirit Fighter, but it's fairly straightforward. I think I could live happily with it in my memory and not worry about leaving it behind too much. *sniffs* On the other hand, Samara's Peril is coming out soon, so I might reread The King's Scrolls beforehand. I'm not quite sure what I'd change about it. Perhaps more internal conflicts within the characters? 

Group Three

Re-read: Beneath the Forsaken City (Review Upcoming)

Rewrite: Isle of Stars

Burn: Storm Front


Again, the struggle between re-reading and rewriting is a challenge. I was tempted to say that I would write out some of the mushy-gushy parts of Beneath the Forsaken City. However, the climax of Isle of Stars irked me more. Storm Front was recommended to me by a friend, but I didn't finish it. I guess I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy. 

Group Four

Re-read: Auralia's Colors (Review Upcoming)

Rewrite: Oath of the Brotherhood (Review Coming this Friday)

Burn: Hospital Sketches

This was probably the easiest group so far. I can take out some of the mushy-gushiness from Oath of the Brotherhood while also leaving the epic sword fights in tact. Just the thought of trying to touch up Auralia's Colors makes me cringe--I absolutely love the book. Once again, my history class made the decision to burn something easy; Hospital Sketches is interesting, but is definitely something I could live without. 

Group Five

Re-read: The Heir War (Review Upcoming)

Rewrite: The Hunters, Brotherband Book 3

Burn: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

As much as part of me wants to make The Heir War a little less dark, I have to fix the head-hopping in The Hunters. Part of me hurts saying that I would burn Narrative of the Life, just because it's superbly written and I think it's a valuable look into slavery. 

Well, there you have it, folks. I feel a bit guilty for how easy that was; History of the American Civil War really saved me in these groups. I might actually redo this tag down the road; it's sort of a fun way to look back at what books I've read lately. 

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, I had a real problem with all the head hopping in Brotherband. We switched within the same paragraph sometimes, and it was very, very annoying. Aurelia's colours sounds pretty interesting, and that cover is just gorgeous :)

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    1. It got worse as the series progressed, too. I have no idea what was going on with that, but the writer in me was cringing the entire time.

      If you like the artwork for Auralia, check out the cover of Cyndere's Midnight, which is book 2. Both of them are quite good and I should have reviews up for them in the next couple weeks.

      Thanks for the comment!

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  2. These are interesting; I have to say I love always seeing how people make these decisions. :) I haven't read these books, though, so I can't say much in terms of personal experience, but I was still interested to know why you made the choices you did—too much head-hopping, personal meaning, okay books that you could live without. It was insightful. :)

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    1. It was sort of fun sorting these out. I expected it to be harder than it was.

      Thanks for the comment! Sorry for the delay!

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