The book in question (as if you didn’t guess by this post’s title) is Hourglass by Myra McEntire. I’ve read it and reviewed it, and after some back and forth with a friend, decided to deconstruct it.

I’m not singling this book out to be mean, in fact I found the writing to be quite competent, but because it’s the most recent title I’ve read that relied too heavily on the instant love conceit that’s become so prevalent in YA literature.

A hypothesis is that Twilight’s to blame. Unfortunately, Twilight doesn’t forgo courtship and while I may not agree with the health of that courtship or relationship dynamic, at least it consists of more than a passing glance, a giggle, and then a declaration of love.

Initially I planned to focus solely on the relationship between Emerson Cole, the main character in Hourglass, and “Jack”, the mysterious apparition that appears in her room from time to time, then her relationship with Michael Weaver, a consultant hired by Em’s brother to help her with her visions, and finally her relationship with Kaleb Ballard, a random love interest thrown in for drama.

But I’ve decided it would be best to take the book as a whole, focusing on the major themes as I come across them (such as how EVERY SINGLE CHARACTER is flawlessly beautiful). With each of the posts, I hope to learn how my own biases may influence my reading and writing, as well as ignite a conversation about the state of contemporary YA romance, and YA literature in general.

When I finished reading a particular ARC, I suggested she do the same using that book because there was so much potential, but it suffered from some serious flaws.

Ana turned the suggestion around and said I should do it. I hemmed and hawed because I’m really not a deconstruction type of girl. I’m afraid I won’t be able to properly convey my ideas coherently, that my objectivity would be horribly skewed by my annoyance. But after thinking more about it, I decided I should at least try. If it works, yay!, and if not, oh well.

What also tipped the scales was my sudden epiphany regarding my annoyance, not only with The Nameless Book, but with most of the contemporary YA lit that’s crossed my path: the complete and utter lack of courtship.

The main characters see each other, decide they’re super-hot, therefore destined to be together, and suddenly they’re in love. Um, that’s not love, that’s infatuation. What’s worse is that there’s not even a reason for the infatuation.

But why not use Twilight, which is a more popular offender? Well, that’s because Twilight isn’t really an offender at all. In my eyes, Edward does court Bella (as does Jacob in New Moon), though not necessarily in the way most people expect (or respect).

And my annoyance is with the death of courtship in general, not the health of said courtship.

To break it down, females often seek out mates who are most capable of protecting them and their offspring. The side effect is that those males tend to be more domineering, overprotective, and aggressive, which sometimes leads to increased danger for said female and her offspring. It’s a fine line to walk.

As humans, we like to think we’ve progressed beyond this—and for the most part, rational thought does take precedent—however, it’s part of our basic survival instinct. (That’s just my way of saying that we haven’t, not really.)

While the perceived dangers have changed (i.e. the bank coming to collect on a debt as opposed to a hyena scavenging food), our desire to do what’s necessary to survive hasn’t, to include finding a mate most likely to protect against having the car repossessed or the house foreclosed. It’s why financial problems often tear families apart. But I digress.

And even though the way males demonstrate those abilities has altered (i.e. being a breadwinner as opposed to spearing a wildebeest), females still get a bit giddy when a man can display a certain amount of physical strength and mental acuity. It plays on that dormant part of human nature. (Finally, those anthropology classes come in handy.)

But, back to Twilight and how Edward courted Bella. All of that was to say, rather than relying on the modern conventions of courtship (think flowers and candy), he relied on the primal conventions. He displayed traits a female would look for in a suitable mate: agility, strength and power, a willingness and ability to protect her.

Though it’s been a couple years since I first read the book, a few illustrative scenes still stand out in my mind:

• Edward saves Bella from a runaway van using only his arm (strength);
• Edward caught an apple that fell from Bella’s lunch tray (agility/quick reflexes);
• Edward saves Bella from a gang of thugs ready to do heaven only knows to her (willingness and ability to protect);
• Edward pulls away when he and Bella are kissing (he’s so bad-ass, he needs to protect her from himself);
• Edward watches Bella sleep at night (creepy, yes, but also a display of his omnipresent protection)…

There are actually a lot of other scenes, but you get the idea, right? Edward’s goal throughout the book is, simply, to keep Bella safe. And he leaves no doubt in her mind that he can do it. Ultimately, that’s why the budding romance (however unhealthy) works in Twilight.

Most contemporary YA lit lacks that. Or, in some cases, a misguided attempt to make the heroine seem less feeble than Bella Swan backfires. (Please note that a girl can be tough and still get courted on a primal level, it just needs to be handled with care. Example: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.)

Now, I’m not saying that every man must go out and club something over the head or stalk the object of his affections in order to court her, but he must still court her in some way (and the reader needs to see it)—a pretty face only gets you so far.

Which brings me back to The Nameless Book. I’m not singling it out specifically to be mean or anything, because many titles suffer from the problem, however, it’s the most recent one I’ve read.

The goal of my upcoming deconstruction is to breakdown the romance that brews between E. C. and M. W. and the almost romance with K. B. and outline why it simply didn’t work for me. I may even do a compare and contrast with another title. We’ll see.

(NB: I’m well aware that males also have specific criteria when selecting a potential mate, but I’m excluding that angle because most of the YA romance lit is geared toward girls and women.)

But how I read actually goes back to a more deeper issue. I collect books. They’re spilling off the shelves onto the floor and over the furniture. It’s a sickness really.

The reason I keep these books, even when I don’t much care for them, is like a type of insurance policy because I’ll think, what if years from now I forget the book and I need to re-read it? Unfortunately, this system isn’t sustainable by my square footage (or my mental health).

A few years ago, I began using index cards as my bookmarks because it afforded me an opportunity to jot notes while reading. It worked, but didn’t assuage my uneasiness. Then sometime last year, I finished reading a book and was about to file away the index card when the stars aligned and I saw an unused 9.5×6.5″ notebook sitting on the night table.

I picked it up and thought, why don’t I just write a book summary for future reference? And I did.

Suddenly, all need to hold on to the book vanished. So I continued doing it with each book I read and over the year, I’ve come up with an almost ideal system. It keeps evolving, but here’s what I’ve learned so far:

• Leave a few pages blank in the front for a Table of Contents (Title, Author, Rating)
• Index tab stickers (or durable index tabs) are great for organization
• Record small details like ISBN, book format, and date read
• It may take more pages, but it’s OK to break the summaries up by chapters (for the books that aren’t read in a single sitting)

Since I’ve been using this system, combined with my recent love affair with ebooks, I’ve been able to gleefully get rid of over 50 physical books and, I pray, in the next year I’ll double that number.

The question now becomes, what’s your reading system?

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

So, here’s mine, taken from the recently acquired Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestly:

“There was a dead rabbit in the newspaper. A note was pinned to the fur, saying: Well come to Whitcot. Fresh kild this morning.” pg. 96

Hour 24 (7:05AM): The End is Nigh

For most people, there’s only one hour left in the read-a-thon. For me, however, since I got a late start, I’m going to continue reading for another hour past. Yeah, I get down like that.

In the meantime, I’m completing the end of the read-a-thon meme…

1. Which hour was most daunting for you? Hour 21 was looking mighty rough-ish for a minute. A few times I thought I would pass out…
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Rotters by Daniel Kraus. Definitely. Um…beyond that…er…
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? The only improvements are those I mentioned in the midway meme (about the localization and prominence of the participants list).
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? The cheerleading. (My blog’s comment issues aside. *sigh*)
5. How many books did you read? 1.5 – in my defense, I spent most of the last 23 hours socializing.
6. What were the names of the books you read? A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde and Rotters by Daniel Kraus
7. Which book did you enjoy most? Um…Rotters
8. Which did you enjoy least? Um…A Well-Timed Enchantment
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders? N/A since I was only an unofficial cheerleader.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? Very likely. Next time I’ll actually spend more time reading. (But I did like the cheerleading, so I’ll probably do some of that, too. Oh, yes, and hosting the mini challenges was fun, so yeah, add that to the list.)

Sorry the above answers are rambly, and borderline incoherent, but my brain has turned into pudding. I think. Or maybe gelatin. Wait, it doesn’t jiggle when I shake it. Yeah, pudding.

Hour 23 (6:10AM): The Almost Done Update

I’ve started Rotters by Daniel Kraus, but am nowhere near finished with it. Twitter and blogs keep distracting me. However, what I’ve read so far is freaking fantastic. I’m kicking myself in the butt for not starting the read-a-thon off with this one. But, c’est la vie.

Also, my first two official read-a-thon mini challenges are officially completed. It was so much fun to read all the responses (and yes, I read every single one) and learn about new books. My Wishlist has grown considerably. Thank you, a million times, thank you to all those who participated. The lucky winners (chosen by the mysterious random.org) are…

For the Character Crush mini challenge: Jessica from Nisaba Be Praised

The first man that popped into my head was Mr. Tilney from Northanger Abbey. The way he teases Catherine is just. So. Sexy. and I always felt his biggest flaw was falling in love with someone as undeveloped (mentally!) as her.

Or, you know, the Doctor.

(I’m totally crushing on The Doctor, too. He wouldn’t even be able to finish saying “Tardis” before I was packed and on board. I wonder, though, have there been any Doctor Who books written? Just checked. Yes, yes there have been.)

For the Movie Madness mini challenge: Bianca_82

This is such an interesting challenge. I never actually thought about this, but let’s give it a try.

Movie to Book? Seven Pounds with Will Smith. It took me about six tries to actually make it through that movie, but once I did, I was blown away. There were so many emotional nuances in it and twists of fate. Now that I think about it, that definitely would have been one unforgettable book. Who would write it? Andre Dubus III. He wrote The House of Sand and Fog and when I think about Seven Pounds as a book, that’s the style that comes to mind. The more I think about it, the more I want Mr. Dubus to do it.

Book to Movie? This is a little trickier. Hum. Generation Dead by Daniel Waters and it would be directed by Edgar Wright, the guy who wrote/directed ‘Shaun of the Dead’. That would be a match made in heaven. Generation Dead is like a campy version of Twilight with zombies and I know Mr. Wright can do it right. Sorry for the bad pun.

Thanks for this challenge, it actually woke me up somewhat by making me think.

(I wholeheartedly agree on Generation Dead. That would be a fun book to see made into a movie, but I don’t know if Edgar Wright is the ideal directorial candidate. I loved Shaun of the Dead, too, but…of course, I’m sleep deprived so I’m not sure what I’m saying at this point. Must add Seven Pounds to my list of movies to see.)

Thanks again to everyone who participated.

Hour 12 (7:45PM): The Midway Update

OK, so it’s taken me nearly 11 full hours to finish one book. That’s ridiculous even by my own slow-reading standards. But, to be fair, I’ve been procrastinating for much of that 11 hours because…the book was not as awesometastic as I expected it to be. And the full truth is I’ve only spent about 3 of those hours actually reading. *facepalm*

Now it’s time to participate in the midway meme…

1. What are you reading right now? I just finished reading A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde and I’ll be starting Rotters by Daniel Kraus next.

2. How many books have you read so far? (shamefaced) 1…in my defense, it was much slower going than I’d planned. (See paragraph preceding this meme.)

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? It’s a tie between Rotters, which I’m starting next, and Wither by Lauren DeStefano.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day? Not really, surprisingly.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Only two and in both instances I just clicked on the “Don’t Accept” button on my phone.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? The awesomeness of the challenges. Seriously creative (and fun) ideas people.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? Make the list of participants easier to find for those who haven’t signed up as cheerleaders, but would still like to pop around every once in a while and cheer on the fellow read-a-thoners.

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year? N/A since I was only an amateur cheerleader…

9. Are you getting tired yet? Surprisingly, nope. Guess the Cherry Coke Zero’s working.

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered? Keep the pages open in tabs, such as Twitter, The 24 Hr. Read-a-Thon homepage (and participant list), Facebook, and refresh as necessary. When visiting the blogs, open the links up in a new tab. Don’t know if that’s a new or even helpful tip, but there it is anyway.

Hour 2 (9:00AM): Read-a-Thon Check-In

In one fell swoop I’ve used up all of my allotted snack breaks. (Yes, I had a perfectly mapped out schedule and everything. I want to rock this reading challenge.) This morning, I panicked when I couldn’t find one of the books I’d planned to giveaway for one of the mini challenges. It’s still in hiding, but I figure I can just re-purchase it if necessary. No sense in delaying any further.

The first book on my reading schedule, as I munch on an Asiago cheese bagel with cream cheese and sip on my ice cold Cherry Coke Zero (I can just hear my mom’s voice telling me it’s too early in the morning for soda), is A Well-Timed Enchantment by Vivian Vande Velde.

It’s an unscheduled addition, but after finishing another book by Velde recently, I couldn’t resist when I saw this one sitting on the shelf. I guess I didn’t sacrifice all my snack breaks for nothing.

To answer the pre-read-a-thon questions…

1)Where are you reading from today? Sunny South Florida

2)Three random facts about me…

1. I collect journals
2. I’m just shy of 6 ft. tall
3. I had a nightmare about turtles two nights ago

3)How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours? I had four books…then stumbled across another one this morning.

4)Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)? Just read, go with the flow, have fun.

5)If you’re a veteran read-a-thoner, any advice for people doing this for the first time? Since I don’t consider myself a veteran, I’m going with N/A on this one.

I’ve already stocked up on my reading supplies:

• Cherry Coke Zero? Check.
• Microwave burritos? Check.
• Lots and lots o’ books? Check.

Now, I just need to get the mini challenge prizes together. This is going to be awesome.

For those who think this is my way of procrastinating when I should be writing, I’m appalled at such an accusation…but not too appalled to admit you’re right. But, it could be worse. And I’ll  write double on Monday (after I’ve recovered). Promise.

But one day while passing my local Borders store I saw a giant banner that said: STORE CLOSING. With a heavy heart I decided to pay it a fond farewell. And wouldn’t you know that the stars were in perfect alignment that evening because their Kobo Wireless eReaders were discounted 60% and they only had one left.

Dancing elves and a flashing arrow appeared out of nowhere telling me to buy it.

So, I bought it.

When I got home I felt a pang of buyer’s remorse, even though I got it on the cheap, because I was certain it would go the way of my Ab Lounge: a dusty heap of metal eyeing me with contempt.

That night, I purchased a $.99 ebook*…just to test it out…and when I finished the book a few hours later, I said, “Hmm, that wasn’t so bad” and decided to read something else.

Important Revelation: I’m a bibliophile in the classic sense. I love the feel of pages caressing my fingers, the texture of the paper, the weight of the book in my hand, the smell of the binding glue. But not necessarily in the practical sense, I realize…as my library approaches a conservative guesstimate of 250+ books.

Five books later I realized that I loved my eReader far more than toning my abs and…it’s time to get rid of my paperbacks. Remember that important revelation? Well, about 80% of those books are paperbacks and time doesn’t love them as much as the hardcovers. Plus, hardcover books generally look nicer.

Slowly, since I’m not yet wiping my nose with hundred dollar bills, I’m re-purchasing my paperbacks as ebooks and the ones I really, really love as hardcovers. The ones I haven’t read yet I’ll just check out from the library. (That’s another wonderful eReader perk: instant access to free books without leaving my home. My county library hasn’t seen as much action from me in the last year as in the last month.)

My hope is to one day give away all of those paperback books**, and regain ~500 sq. ft. of living space. Although I’m still a bibliophile in the classic sense, I’m also a proud bibliophile in the contemporary sense. Who knew?

*Yes, I know that’s a Kindle book which isn’t supported by the Kobo, but I converted it to EPUB.

**I’m referring mostly to leisure reads and not necessarily technical/reference books, of which I also have many.

I’ve already started Entwined by Heather Dixon…it’s slow going. As I eased into chapter 4, I wished I were more into it because I adore her blog, and the writing there is pure hilarity. But I eventually set it aside and picked up Wither* by Lauren DeStefano, which is fairing much better. When I finish that, I’m looking forward to Rotters by Daniel Kraus, which already has some glowing reviews, and Graveminder by Melissa Marr, although I didn’t love Wicked Lovely.

*I am absolutely smitten by the Wither cover.