So obviously I’m still behind on my goal of 25 books before my own book comes out, but I’m going to make it, so come back this weekend, to see two more book reviews before we launch our new THEN and NOW series next week. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this series. The entries so far have been beyond touching, and I’m just delighted that there are so many people across the world who have made a change for the better since high school. Oh, and friendly reminder, there’s still time to submit your THEN and NOW story here. But enough about that, let’s get into today’s book, THE KARMA CLUB by Jessica Brody. Why I Decided To Read It: Jessica is a fellow Smithie, and every time, I told another Smithie about my book, her name would pop up. When I saw that she had her first YA novel out in April, I downloaded it (to my iPad) on the d.o.t. I also got one for my shelf, which I forgot to get signed when I finally did meet her. Doh! What It’s About: The main character, Madison, and her two best friends get dumped in pretty heinous ways, so they form a secret Karma Club to get back at their exes and the girl that replaced Madison. What Makes It Different: Well, some YA books read like they could m/b be a movie. This is basically the novelization of a teen movie that I would totally watch. What I Loved: Brody takes high school seriously. She demands better from her main character, and the book despite it’s glossy situations, turns out to be a real journey for Madison. It actually got me to thinking about karma and being...

When I want to sound cool and mysterious, I say I was raised in the desert. When I want to explain why I’m loud, stubborn, cynical, opinionated, dramatic, charming (in an overbearing sort of way), and obsessed with protecting my territory and feeding everybody hummus, I say I was raised in Israel. And when I’m listening to Californians whine like babies about the weather, I say I was raised in Albany. (Not to mention how I was shaped by all the crazy years spent on the New York theatre scene trying to “make it there” and, ipso facto, “anywhere”  during which time I worked as an Elf at Macy’s, cleaned up vomit at comedy clubs for stage time and tips and gave out sandwiches and fruit on the subway in the South Bronx for $50 a day + “donations” – but I’ll save all these tales of struggle for my motivational seminars: “Reach for the Stars — Fall on your Ass — Get a Real Fucking Job with Some Health Insurance” and “Artists Starve – Arts Administrators Get Fat, So Come to the Break Room of Life Like I Did and Grab Your Piece of the Pie (actually day-old birthday cake)”. Anyhow, the desert. The characters in Hari Kunzru’s Gods Without Men spend an awful lot of time schlepping around the desert looking for aliens. I spent my fair share of time schlepping around the Israeli desert as a young teenager, but I was just looking for snakes, lizards and scorpions to sell to the creepy American zoologist who lived in town. He said he was buying these critters for research, but I think he REALLY didn’t like falafel and hummus, if you catch my drift (He ate them. Fuck subtlety- I’m Israeli!). Anyhow,...

What’s up, weekend rockers? I just got edits back from my agent, so I’m planning to spend the next few months of weekends rewriting my novel. Being a hermit by nature, I’m really excited to have an excuse not to go out. But maybe you’ve got better weekend plans? If so, sound off in the comments. Meanwhile, here’s your extra-big dose of procrastination to get you through until we meet again next Monday. 1. FINALLY, somebody tells me how to make my own pop rocks. Stay tuned for lots of mayhem. Seriously, I might make the news. [i09] 2. The smartest (and funniest) response to Tiki Barber’s attempted football comeback that I’ve read thus far. [Angry Black Lady Chronicles] 3. Awesome post by Randy Susan Meyer’s (THE MURDERER’S DAUGHTER) about great craft books to read before and after you write your novel. [grub street daily] 4. Looking for good anime? Check the comments section of this N.K. Jemisin post asking for good anime suggestions. My hand is all crampy now from adding so many new series and movies to my Netflix queue.  [N.K. Jemisin] 5. You know, how Ernessa is always saying that her fellow Smithie author, Jessica Brody, always has the best YA trailers. And how every other YA author should take note, and how Jessica Brody hung the YA trailer moon? Well, she’s right. Here’s the trailer for Jessica Brody’s upcoming book, MY LIFE UNDECIDED. And once again, it looks like movie I’d actually want to watch if I was a teen. Good job, dude. [Jessica...