Discussion Post: What books will teens be studying 100 years from now?

So Lale from Lale on Lit posted about this a while ago, and I found it really cool so I decided to post my own list of books that teens might be studying in a hundred years from now.

The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney - This novel, much like Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, focuses on the somewhat fragile and contradictory subject of rape. I think that both of these books have great themes and delve into what it means to stand up for yourself. I also find that teens will be able to empathize and relate to these books because of the unvarnished realities in these contemporary reads.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver - Delirium is a really great dystopian book that would be great for studying and analyzing. All of the symbolic imagery and the lyrical prose are great for analyzing literary techniques. The theme and the actual plot line can also be written about. I think that the originality of this novel will really be appreciated by teen readers.

Perfect Chemistry Series by Simone Elkeles - The parallelisms between this series and Romeo and Juliet can be compared and analyzed together. The gritty atmosphere is also great to write about. What makes this series special is that it is easily relatable to teens all around the world because it revolves around stereotypes, poverty, and discrimination; all concepts and themes that are relevant to today's society.

Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton - This book portrays female empowerment extremely well and really captures how to merge fact and fiction together with the myths and legends imbued into the story. Teens will enjoy the normalcy of the protagonist and her own familial problems that can be easily empathized with by teens.

The Ivy Series by Rina Onur and Lauren Kunze - This series portrays college life really well and focuses on the consequences of teenagers' actions. It doesn't sugar-coat much and it also looks at the pros and cons of the different decisions that teenagers will have to make. A read that can be empathized with, greatly.

What about you guys? What books do you think teens will be studying in school, a hundred years from now? Tell me in the comments! I'm really interested in what you guys think!

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Discussion Post: Is there such thing as a 'Reviewerspeak'?

While I was surfing through the net, I found an interesting article about The Top 20 Most Annoying Book Reviewer Cliches in the Examiner.

You guys already know the definition of 'newspeak' don't you? Just in case you don't know, it's the term George Orwell created and it means "whose vocabulary gets smaller every year."

In the article (and taken from there), it says the the 20 most annoying book reviewer cliches are as follows:

1. Gripping

2. Poignant: if anything at all sad happens in the book, it will be described as poignant

3. Compelling

4. Nuanced: in reviewerspeak, this means, "The writing in the book is really great. I just can't come up with the specific words to explain why."

5. Lyrical: see definition of nuanced, above.

6. Tour de force

7. Readable

8. Haunting

9. Deceptively simple: as in, "deceptively simple prose"

10. Rollicking: a favorite for reviewers when writing about comedy/adventure books

11. Fully realized

12. At once: as in, "Michael Connelly's The Brass Verdict is at once a compelling mystery and a gripping thriller." See, I just used three of the most annoying clichés without any visible effort. Piece of cake.

13. Timely

14. " X meets X meets X": as in, "Stephen King meets Charles Dickens meets Agatha Christie in this haunting yet rollicking mystery."

15. Page-turner

16. Sweeping: almost exclusively reserved for books with more than 300 pages

17. That said: as in, "Stephenie Meyer couldn't identify quality writing with a compass and a trained guide; that said, Twilight is a harmless read."

18. Riveting

19. Unflinching: used to describe books that have any number of unpleasant occurences -- rape, war, infidelity, death of a child, etc.

20. Powerful

Personally, I use these words in my reviews sometimes and don't find anything wrong with them. If these are the words that describe how you feel, then why the heck not use them? But of course, there's a difference between how you feel, and overusing these words. Of course, there's always room to improve your vocab and whatnot, but if you use these words over and over and over again, it can get pretty boring and less meaningful.

So, what's your take on this issue? What do you guys think is the most cliched word used by book reviewers?

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