Boy, I like the sound of that – an extended holiday. And we’re in luck, Savvy Readers, the Victoria Day long weekend is upon us! But before you rush outside to rev up the BBQ, it’s time to catch up on this week’s book events with our weekly bookmarks.

1. Kenneth Oppel’s Such Wicked Intent named a Red Maple Honour book. A long weekend means the kids are home on Monday, so why not eep them busy by picking up Such Wicked Intent by Kenneth Oppel? This fabulous gothic thriller was named a Red Maple Honour Book this past week. Oppel collected his well-deserved award in front of a crowd of cheering kids at Toronto’s Harbourfront Centre. The Red Maple Award is presented by the Ontario Library Association to authors writing at the Grade 7-8 level, who have been published in the last two years. The best part of this award? The winner is selected by none other than Ontario’s young readers.

2. Anticipated book-to-movie adaptations. So many of the best movies are based on books. This long weekend, use all that extra time to prepare for some of the upcoming and highly anticipated book-to-movie adaptations. First, if you haven’t already, it is high time to pick up Veronica Roth’s Divergent; then check out this teaser photo released from on-set of the upcoming Divergent movie in Chicago. As well, add S.J. Watson’s Before I Go To Sleep to your weekend reading pile – the film is coming in 2014 and you can check out the movie poster here to see some of the film’s star-studded cast. Finally, Ben Affleck has signed on to star in the movie adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s exciting crime thriller Live By Night, which is currently in preproduction.

3. The Bling Ring author interview. If, on your long-weekend excursions, you happen to walk past a group of teenagers that looks a little too well-dressed, maybe they’re wearing some expensive jewelry, suspiciously carrying some high profile artwork – it just might be the Bling Ring. In her much-anticipated new book The Bling Ring, Nancy Jo Sales tells the story of a group of privileged teens who were caught stealing millions of dollars’ worth of valuables from Hollywood’s elite. Check out the Bling Ring author interview for more information about this fascinating story.

4. Isabelle LaFleche giveaway. It’s about an eight hour flight from Toronto to Paris. So, sadly, Paris is probably not in the cards this long weekend. In lieu of a trip to Paris, how about the next best thing: Isabelle LaFleche’s fabulous new novel, J’adore Paris, the perfect way to transport yourself to Champs-Elysées, Montmarte, and the river Seine. Enter our Isabelle LaFleche giveaway for a chance to win a copy of J’adore Paris and an adorable fashion-inspired purse.

5. 65 Books to Read in Your 20s (but we think they’re great for any age!). I don’t know about you, Savvy Readers, but after a long weekend, I feel like I am twenty again. Harness that feeling by checking out this list of 65 books to read in your 20s. Whether you are young, or just young at heart, this list includes many must-reads.

Looks like your weekend may be busier than you thought, huh? Enjoy!

Keriann
Follow me on twitter @KeriannMcGoogan

What The Author is Saying…

On the evolution of her heroine

On her writing process

On the dating process

What The People are Saying…

“The Elite was just the pickup I needed to get me through my reading slump! I haven’t felt this emotionally engulfed by a book in so long .” Lily’s Book Blog

“The Elite is one book you need to read right away because this sequel will make you cry, scream and just cry!” Stuck in YA Books

“The ultimate, fast-paced, guilty pleasure read.” YA Bookshelf

“The Elite is an irresistible sequel…I can’t wait to see how Kiera Cass will conclude the trilogy! “ Midnight Bloom Reads

“6 girls remaining for a shot at the crown and Prince Maxon’s heart, but ironically enough, it was MAXON who stole MY heart!” Booking it with Hayley G

“I compared the last book to a cupcake because it was big on the romance and pretty dresses, this novel  is darker, and more dangerous. ” A Glass of Wine

Have you read The Elite? Chat with us @HCCFrenzy and tell us what you thought!

Vikki
Follow me on twitter @HCCFrenzy and @vikkivansickle

Bad Sentences: A Guest Post by Shaena Lambert

There’s a story in Francine Prose’s book, Reading Like  A Writer, about a writer who met with his agent and was asked what he was working on next. He said, “I want to write beautiful sentences.” The agent leaned forward, took his arm, and said, “Don’t ever tell anybody in publishing that.”

Sentences are our tools. They are also our passion – but that’s the part we’re supposed to keep quiet about. We are supposed to be focusing on the creation of plots, which lead to chapters, which lead to whole books. Yet writing beautiful/elegant/thoughtful/well-constructed sentences is what a lot of the craft boils down to. Just as, when we are in the throes of writing, it also boils down to choosing the right word, stringing them together into the right paragraph. In other words, being in the moment and attempting to do the task in front of us as well as we can.

I have a few things to say about good sentences, but for this post I’d like to offer up a few kinds of bad sentences. Most writers are familiar with them. I certainly know these guys well.

1. The self-admiring sentence. This is the sentence that makes a big entrance, air-kissing the host as she swans onto the page. Even as she speaks, she’s checking how she looks in the mirror. These are the sentences that Samuel Johnson said we should strike out.

2. The sentence with mustard stains on its shirt. This sentence just can’t be bothered, because he thinks dressing up is for sissies.He prides himself on authenticity.  This kind of sentence shows up a lot in prose where the writer feels that being ‘real’ and ‘telling it like it is,’ is more important than being clear.

3. The sentence with no rhythm. It just sits there on the page. Or if it tries to dance, it is like the guy at the Christmas party who can only wriggle his arms. The only cure for writing sentences like this is to immerse oneself in reading.

4. The loner sentence. It exists by itself, has no relation to its neighbours –a fatal mistake, because all sentences are only as good as the interaction they have with the life around them.

5. And perhaps most familiar and most damaging: the surgically-enhanced sentence. This is when you take a perfectly good thought and tweeze it, dye it, exfoliate it, and botox it until it becomes a monster. After this kind of self-editing it bears no resemblance to the thing you were trying to say in the first place. Cut it out and start again. It can’t be saved.

There are other kinds of bad sentences, too. The rancorous adolescent who corners you and talks about how horrible his mother is. The deceitful sentence. The sentence that giggles and wants to be liked. Many of these problems crop up when we try to craft something meaningful, but get caught up in our own language. When it comes to sentences, we can take too little care, or we can take too much care. The best sentences seem to be an insouciant blend of chutzpah and effortlessness.  We have to try to make them really good – but we can’t seem to be trying at all.

Shaena Lambert
For more writing advice, follow Shaena on twitter @ShaenaLambert

This blog post was originally published on Shaena’s website. To read about Great Sentences – and for other advice on writing – visit Thoughts on Writing, here.

Click here for more information about Oh, My Darling.

Isabelle Laflèche’s new novel, J’adore Paris, is an exhilarating journey through high fashion (real and counterfeit), the war against fake consumer goods, and the irresistible realm of Parisian luxury.  To write this story, Isabelle went behind the scenes and did extensive research about the counterfeiting world. She now wants to share a piece of advice: Fakes are Never in Fashion.  Here’s a list of 10 reasons why:

1. Purchasing fake goods threatens the safety of consumers through products that have not been properly tested;

2. They offer a poor deal to consumers with no money-back guarantee;

3. They’re usually of very poor quality and fall apart quickly;

4. Wearing them can cause skin irritations due to poor quality of the materials;

5. Buying fakes causes job losses,

6. It affects the commercial viability of legitimate businesses, whose products are faked;

7. It harms the national economy through tax evasion;

8. It funds serious organized crime and terrorism.

9. It kills your chic & sophisticated look in a heartbeat (Oh look, she’s wearing a fake!)

10. As Rikash, one of the main characters of J’adore Paris, would say:  Nothing looks better than the real thing, dah-ling!

Want to learn more about the world of fashion fakes? Check out J’adore Paris by Isabelle Laflèche! And, just for you, we have a special giveaway. Enter below to win a copy of J’adore Paris and this charming purse!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Find out more about J’adore Paris here.
“Like” Isabelle Laflèche on Facebook.
Follow @isalafleche on Twitter.