Fan fiction: Good or Bad?

This article on the role of fan fiction in the literary market intrigued me. I first learned about fan fiction last year when I was in teachers college. We discussed how you could use fan fiction in the English classroom to get students actively involved in their own writing using inspiration from characters and stories that they love. I checked out the site and perused stories from books and TV shows that I love such as Harry Potter and I was hooked. The quality of some of the writing surprised me the most as there are some amazing writers out there creating truly inspired stories. I also started noticing fan fiction in the literary world at large. I read a book titled The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen that took fan fiction from the interweb and put it on the page. A quick look around the book store showed me that this was not the only novel that took its inspiration from other books and I started wondering what role does fan fiction play in writing, inspiration, and creativity??

I'll leave you with some examples of fan fiction that I have found in the book world. If you can think of any others or if you have any thoughts to share on fan fiction please feel free to comment.

Books in books

I am always super curious when authors reference other books in their own. It always makes me stop and ponder why they chose those books and what they are trying to say by the reference. In a scene in Lord of the Flies Ralph, the designated leader of the boys, is day dreaming about his life before the island and he pictures his book shelf. He tells us about the kinds of books he sees there and references specifically The Boys Book of Ships, The Boys Book of Trains, and The Mammoth Book for Boys. To me these books symbolized a more civilized and simple time and made a stark contrast between the boy who read those books and the boy that has to make all the life and death decisions on the island. I think it was at this point in the book that I really realized that this is truly a story about little boys trying to survive and growing up too fast in the process.

Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• 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!

"I got the conch! Just you listen! The first thing we ought to have made was shelters down there by the beach. It wasn't half cold down there in the night. But the first time Ralph says "fire" you goes howling and screaming up this hear mountain. Like a pack of kids!"
Lord of the Flies - William Golding  

Honey Moon

I am off on my honeymoon today! We are taking a Baltic cruise for 12 days and I can't wait to come back with lots of stories to tell you and maybe some inspiration to read some Baltic authors. Not to worry though I have posts queued up for while I am gone. I am hoping to get some reading done while I am away. I need to finish Lord of the Flies and I would love to start and finish The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen so stay tuned for reviews. Hopefully we don't miss the boat a la I Love Lucy! Did anyone else watch that show? My mom was a huge fan so I grew up on it. 

100 best closing lines

My sister used to start a new book by reading the last line and I always thought she risked spoiling certain things about the story to come but it was her system. I came across this great list of the 100 best last lines and it was really fun to read through. Some of them inspired me to pick up a new book, some brought back wonderful memories from books I have loved, and some were just puzzling - no offense to Twilight(I have read all 4) but does Breaking Dawn really make the 100 best last lines???? Check it out and tell me what your favourite last line is.

A Library of My Own: European Queens Giveaway!!

Look at this amazing give away that A Library of My Own is doing. I love historical fiction so fingers crossed I win one of them!

A Library of My Own: European Queens Giveaway!!: "I've been remiss in posting a couple of extremely cool giveaways. The publishers are being awesome and letting me give away one copy of Beco..."

NPRs top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy books

As I was reading one of my favourite book blogs A Library of my Own and another book list caught my eye. NPR's top 100 Science Fiction/Fantasy book list. I have always been a fan of fantasy/science fiction be it in movies or books so I would love to read more of the books on this list. Does anyone have any favourites they would recommend or comments about any of the books on the list or one ones that are missing?? Let me know! I have put a * beside the ones I have read. I have only read 6/100 so I have my work cut out for me.

1. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, by J.R.R. Tolkien*2. The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, by Douglas Adams
3. Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card
4. The Dune Chronicles, by Frank Herbert
5. A Song Of Ice And Fire Series, by George R. R. Martin
6. 1984, by George Orwell
7. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
8. The Foundation Trilogy, by Isaac Asimov
9. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
10. American Gods, by Neil Gaiman
11. The Princess Bride, by William Goldman (just saw the movie on the weekend and loved it)
12. The Wheel Of Time Series, by Robert Jordan
13. Animal Farm, by George Orwell*
14. Neuromancer, by William Gibson
15. Watchmen, by Alan Moore
16. I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov
17. Stranger In A Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein
18. The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss
19. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
20. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley*
21. Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, by Philip K. Dick
22. The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood*
23. The Dark Tower Series, by Stephen King
24. 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
25. The Stand, by Stephen King
26. Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson
27. The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury
28. Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
29. The Sandman Series, by Neil Gaiman
30. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
31. Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein
32. Watership Down, by Richard Adams
33. Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey
34. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress, by Robert Heinlein
35. A Canticle For Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller
36. The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells
37. 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, by Jules Verne
38. Flowers For Algernon, by Daniel Keys
39. The War Of The Worlds, by H.G. Wells
40. The Chronicles Of Amber, by Roger Zelazny
41. The Belgariad, by David Eddings
42. The Mists Of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley* I heart everything to do with the Arthur legends
43. The Mistborn Series, by Brandon Sanderson
44. Ringworld, by Larry Niven
45. The Left Hand Of Darkness, by Ursula K. LeGuin (I am thinking of picking this book for my book club pick in October)
46. The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien
47. The Once And Future King, by T.H. White
48. Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
49. Childhood's End, by Arthur C. Clarke
50. Contact, by Carl Sagan
51. The Hyperion Cantos, by Dan Simmons
52. Stardust, by Neil Gaiman
53. Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson
54. World War Z, by Max Brooks
55. The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle
56. The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman
57. Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett
58. The Chronicles Of Thomas Covenant, The Unbeliever, by Stephen R. Donaldson
59. The Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
60. Going Postal, by Terry Pratchett
61. The Mote In God's Eye, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
62. The Sword Of Truth, by Terry Goodkind
63. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy*
64. Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
65. I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson
66. The Riftwar Saga, by Raymond E. Feist
67. The Shannara Trilogy, by Terry Brooks
68. The Conan The Barbarian Series, by R.E. Howard
69. The Farseer Trilogy, by Robin Hobb
70. The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger*
71. The Way Of Kings, by Brandon Sanderson
72. A Journey To The Center Of The Earth, by Jules Verne
73. The Legend Of Drizzt Series, by R.A. Salvatore
74. Old Man's War, by John Scalzi
75. The Diamond Age, by Neil Stephenson
76. Rendezvous With Rama, by Arthur C. Clarke
77. The Kushiel's Legacy Series, by Jacqueline Carey
78. The Dispossessed, by Ursula K. LeGuin
79. Something Wicked This Way Comes, by Ray Bradbury
80. Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
81. The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Series, by Steven Erikson
82. The Eyre Affair, by Jasper Fforde
83. The Culture Series, by Iain M. Banks
84. The Crystal Cave, by Mary Stewart
85. Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
86. The Codex Alera Series, by Jim Butcher
87. The Book Of The New Sun, by Gene Wolfe
88. The Thrawn Trilogy, by Timothy Zahn
89. The Outlander Series, by Diana Gabaldan
90. The Elric Saga, by Michael Moorcock
91. The Illustrated Man, by Ray Bradbury
92. Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
93. A Fire Upon The Deep, by Vernor Vinge
94. The Caves Of Steel, by Isaac Asimov
95. The Mars Trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
96. Lucifer's Hammer, by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
97. Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis
98. Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville
99. The Xanth Series, by Piers Anthony
100. The Space Trilogy, by C.S. Lewis