Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Books that push me to be a better writer

I admit that if a book or movie is over-hyped, I tend to be disappointed by it. My expectations are set sky high and then the experience doesn't quite live up to it. I'm reading an ARC right now that has had so much buzz, it made me a little hesitant to pick it up. I'm halfway through it and all I can say is: holy flippin' cow. I haven't liked a book this much since The Hunger Games/Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. This book has met and exceeded all my expectations. In fact, I don't even want to write this blog post because I want to go find out what happens next (sshhh...don't tell me if you've already read this ARC). The book is Matched by Ally Condie.  The awesome cover looks like this:


From the back of the book:
In the Society, Officials decide. Who you love. Where you work. When you die. Cassia has always trusted their choices. It’s barely any price to pay for a long life, the perfect job, the ideal mate. So when her best friend appears on the Matching screen, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is the one . . . until she sees another face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. Now Cassia is faced with impossible choices: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she’s known and a path no one else has ever dared follow—between perfection and passion.

If you read or write dystopian fiction, you'll LOVE this book! Since I write YA, books as amazing as this one push me even harder to be a better writer--once I get past the initial "I suck compared to this" phase. This is one reason why I think reading is so vital to being a good writer. When you read a great book, it serves as an inspiration--you see how something works when it's done well.

What about you? What book have you read that inspired you to be a better writer?

6 comments:

  1. I keep hearing great things about this book ... hmm?

    The awesome thing about being a writer is that even though it ruins reading when it comes to so-so books, it makes those rare gems that much more amazing.

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  2. Exactly how I felt about MATCHED! I think I may have said "holy flippin' cow" a few times.

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  3. Sounds like I need to move this one up my TBR pile!

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  4. Valerie-you should definitely move it up!

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  5. Awww....it's not even out yet?! :*(

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  6. Biffie-yeah, you'd have to pre-order it for the Nov. 2010 release. I'm just lucky that someone is letting me borrow it. (Thanks Lacey!)

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