Review Me Twice - My True Love Gave To Me by Multiple Authors

I am actually a big fan of anthologies.  I have the theory that, by sheer odds, you're eventually going to hit ONE story that you like in it.  And I did.  In fact, there were a number of stories that I liked in it.  I really liked the one by Rainbow Rowell, though probably more so because when I went to see her at Politics and Prose, she read it.

If you ever get the chance to hear an author read their own work, do it.  It's SO MUCH BETTER than what happens in my head (and what happened there was pretty good.)

Some were definitely better than others, because you have twelve authors and while some are great authors, not all of them are meant to be short story writers.  David Levithan's was not one of my favorites.  I love him, and I liked his better when I heard him read it out loud, but I still didn't enjoy his story as much as I have enjoyed his books.

But probably my favorite out of the whole batch was Gayle Foreman's.  It was funny and poignant and sweet and just a great story.  I thought it was well done and one of those stories that was satisfying where it ended but still full of potential.

The book was a good anthology, and definitely worth reading, especially if you're just looking for a nice Christmas book.

I promise, one of my New Year's resolutions is to read every single Review Me Twice book beginning to end. But it's still 2014, so I didn't finish this one. What I did read, though, I really loved. My favorite thing about anthologies (other than what Cassy mentioned above, finding at least ONE you like) is how different authors take different approaches to the same theme or topic. I think a major reason why I didn't manage to finish this book on time was that I had to put it down between stories (and there are a lot of stories... twelve, so sayeth the subtitle). I don't read different authors' short stories back to back. When the anthology is all the same author, I can read straight through, but I have to do that thing where you put it down and digest what you read before I can pick it back up in the multi-author situation.

Favorite Anthology

Zombies Vs. Unicorns is one that I fell upon specifically because of Scott Westerfeld.  He had mentioned that he had taken part in it on his blog, so I ended up picking it up at super deep discount years ago when Borders was going out of business.  Sad, I know, but it worked out well for me.

And it was a fun one, because the whole thing started when Christine Larbalestier (Westerfeld's wife and author of Liar) got into a blog war with Holly Black (author of The Spiderwick Chronicles) about which was better: Zombies or Unicorns.  Larbalestier was team Zombies and Black was team Unicorns.

This is what the cover of the book looked like under the dust jacket.

As the blog war went on, different YA authors took sides, and inevitably, the whole thing turned into a book.  So each author wrote a short story for their "side".  The whole thing was fun and hysterical, and I think ended up being great because it was such a pet project for all of them.  The whole concept was really, at the end of the day, a big practical joke.  But that's kind of what made the book so wonderful.  It didn't take itself seriously at ALL.

It also has some GREAT authors writing for it: Maureen Johnson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, Garth Nix, Meg Cabot, Scott Westerfeld, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Carrie Ryan, Kathleen Duey, Margo Lanagan, Naomi Novik, and Diana Peterfreund.

Basically, it's a book with Zombie and Unicorn short stories.  How could you POSSIBLY go wrong with this?

I tried to think of a multi-author anthology I liked better than this book, because to me, "anthology" implies multiple authors, and when it's all by one author, I think "collection." But whatever, it didn't work... this is apparently my favorite anthology: Everything's Eventual by Stephen King.

I've said it before and I'm sure I'll say it again... Stephen King is excellent at the short story. He loses me with the longer novels but that's just a personal preference. Obviously his novels do just fine, lots of people read and like them. They just aren't for me. His short stories, however, are just pure art.

I don't think I even have a favorite from this book, either. The title story is really great, and I think about it often. It's one of those stories that sticks with you. Possibly because I have the version pictured here, and that cover photo does wonders for solidifying the story in your head. Just amazing.

If someone told me they wanted to start reading Stephen King but they didn't like long books, and wanted to know where they should start, I would hand them a copy of Everything's Eventual. Then I'd probably pile The Running Man and The Long Walk on top of it, but still. Great book.

Anthologies

This week, we're reading, My True Love Gave To Me, a YA Christmas anthology that just came out with some of our favorite authors participating in it.

What is an anthology, exactly?  Well, dear old Webster defines it as "a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors,usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject."

Basically, it means a bunch of short stories, all put together in one book.  Now, sometimes, it's lots of authors purposely getting together and writing stories to create an anthology, like this week's book.

In this case, all these YA authors decided it would be a good idea to write some short stories and make this book.  A lot of times, authors do this to promote their own writings.  For instance, David Levithan and Rainbow Rowell just were at Politics and Prose in DC doing a book signing, and you could get them to both sign this book.  I know they then went up to New York where ten of the twelve authors were going to be around to sign it.  So it really promotes the authors and their books.

Sometimes, an editor just takes a bunch of essays or short stories of similar topics and puts them together in a book because they think that people will buy them.  I know that this set comes out every year. 

              

 There are a bunch more, like the best sport stories and the best essays, etc.  They come out every year and it's just what are thought to be the best stories of the year in that category.  They usually sell pretty well and people pick them up based on the subject their interested in.

50 Essays is also another that's fairly popular, and is just a collection of popular essays, organized by subject.  A lot of professors use it as required reading because there are so many different subject matters in it and so many different authors, from writers to celebrities, so it's a nice range of essays to teach a class with.

Really, an anthology is just a collection of stories or essays that an editor thinks is going to sell well.  Sometimes, authors will specifically write a story for an anthology, and sometimes an editor will just pick a bunch of stories to put in it.

Twelve Author Bios

This week, we actually have TWELVE authors, because we're reading a Christmas Anthology!!  So, I thought it might be fun to actually do a quick bio on each of them (and that means most of them will be almost directly copy and pasted from Goodreads.  So be prepared for that.)

Stephanie Perkins

Perkins writes novels for teens (and for adults who aren't afraid to admit that teen books are awesome). She was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, attended universities in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now lives in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

Her best friend is her husband Jarrod. Their house is almost a hundred years old, and every room is painted a different color of the rainbow. They share it with a cat named Mr. Tumnus.

She's always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. On weekdays, you'll find her at her desk, typing away, downing cups of coffee and tea. On the weekend, you'll find her at the movies, waiting for the actors to kiss. She believes all novels and films should have more kissing.

Holly Black

Holly Black is a best-selling author of contemporary fantasy novels for kids, teens, and adults. She is the author of the Modern Faerie Tale series (Tithe, Valiant, and Ironside), The Spiderwick Chronicles (with Tony DiTerlizzi), and The Good Neighbors graphic novels (with Ted Naifeh) The Poison Eaters and Other Stories, a collection of short fiction, and The Curse Worker series (White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart). She is also the co-editor of three anthologies, Geektastic (with Cecil Castellucci), Zombies vs. Unicorns (with Justine Larbalestier), and Welcome to Bordertown (with Ellen Kushner). Her most recent works are the middle grade novel, Doll Bones, and the dark fantasy stand-alone, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown.

She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, Theo, in a house with a secret library.

Ally Carter

Ally Carter is a writer living and working in the Midwest. She loved school so much she kept going...and going...and going...until finally she had to graduate. Now she has degrees from Oklahoma State University and Cornell University and a house and a job and other very grown-up things.

Her life is either very ordinary or the best deep-cover legend ever. She'd tell you more, but...well...you know...

Gayle Foreman

My name is Gayle Forman and I love to write young-adult novels. Because I do. So thank you for reading them. Because without you, it’d just be me. And the voices in my head.

Gayle Forman is an award-winning author and journalist whose articles have appeared in such publications asJane, Seventeen, Glamour, Elle, and The New York Times Magazine, to name just a few. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Jenny Han

(Han like Han Solo, not Han like hand) was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She went to college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and she went on to graduate school at the New School in New York City, where she received her MFA in Writing for Children. She lives in Brooklyn.  She is the author of To All The Boys I Have Loved Before and The Summer I Turned Pretty

David Levithan

David Levithan (born 1972) is an American children's book editor and award-winning author. He published his first YA book, Boy Meets Boy, in 2003. Levithan is also the founding editor of PUSH, a Young Adult imprint of Scholastic Press.

Kelly Link

Kelly Link is an American author of short stories born in 1969. Her stories might be described as slipstream or magic realism: sometimes a combination of science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery, and realism.

Myra McEntire

Myra McEntire is an avid Doctor Who fan and will argue passionately about which incarnation is the best. She loves to search thrift stores for things to upcycle, as she’s a big believer in second chances. She lives with her two boys and husband near Nashville, Tennessee. Myra is the author of the Hourglass trilogy, which has been nominated for two RITAs and a YALSA Teen Top Ten, and was chosen as a SIBA Okra Pick. She’s currently contracted with Storybird, where she’s serializing a middle grade novel, called THE SHADOW GATE.

Matt De La Pena

Matt de la Peña is the author of five critically-acclaimed young adult novels—Ball Don't Lie, Mexican WhiteBoy, We Were Here, I Will Save You and The Living—as well as the award-winning picture book A Nation’s Hope: The story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.

Rainbow Rowell

Rainbow Rowell writes books. Sometimes she writes about adults (ATTACHMENTS and LANDLINE). Sometimes she writes about teenagers (ELEANOR & PARK and FANGIRL). But she always writes about people who talk a lot. And people who feel like they're screwing up. And people who fall in love.

When she's not writing, Rainbow is reading comic books, planning Disney World trips and arguing about things that don't really matter in the big scheme of things.

She lives in Nebraska with her husband and two sons.

Laini Taylor

Hi there! I'm a writer of fantasy books for young people, but my books can be enjoyed by adults as well. My 'Dreamdark' books, Blackbringer (2007) and Silksinger (2009) are about faeries -- not dainty little flowery things, but warrior-faeries who battle devils. My first young adult book, Lips Touch, is a finalist for the 2009 National Book Award! It's creepy, sensual supernatural romance. . . about kissing. I am also an artist with a licensed gift product line called "Laini's Ladies."

Kiersten White

Hi! I'm the New York Times best-selling author of Paranormalcy and Supernaturally. I also give the most awkward hugs in the world. You should probably opt for one of my books over one of my hugs, but then again, maybe you like awkward hugs.

As for me, I like writing flirting scenes, and fighting scenes, and sometimes I write scenes that fall somewhere in between the two, but only if I can't avoid it.

And don't forget to enter our contest to win a signed copy of Unwind!!!