George R.R. Martin's Texas A&M Visit

(Picture from TAMU Libraries)
About a week ago, George R.R. Martin came to Texas A&M University to present the library with its 5 millionth volume. Yeah, that's right. Our library now has over 5 MILLION books! How lucky are we?? And the secret little nerd inside me was doubly excited because the book Martin helped purchase for us was a first edition Hobbit, illustrated AND signed by Tolkien.



Anyway...I thought I would share a little bit about his visit...

First off, I feel as if Martin would be a very cool guy to talk to. He seems a little like an eccentric uncle. If you just asked one question, he would talk for hours, going off on tangents and just amusing himself. I can imagine him waving a hand at a velvet high backed chair and saying, "sit down and let Uncle George tell you a story." He spoke about his love for books and how he became such a voracious reader. Growing up, he always had a book with him, no matter where he went. A baseball game? A family reunion? Didn't matter.

He was even able to poke fun at himself. He talked about the time he first read Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. He fell in love with it and then had to endure the excruciating wait for the next book. As most of you know, we've been waiting for the next installment of his Game of Throne series since 2011. The crowd laughed and clapped at his sheepish look.

Also, the man is a hoarder. He called himself a "pack rat" but we all know what that means. He can't throw anything away. He still has his first hardback book he received as a gift way back when. He has first edition comic books that are now worth $30,000! He tried to keep his TV guides, but his mother threw them away. He keeps filling up his designated book space no matter where it is. He build a home recently in New Mexico and he had a tower built specifically to store his books. A TOWER FOR BOOKS! In my mind it looks like this:


(I think this is motivation enough to become a best selling author...)

There was so much more that happened and I am so lucky to have been able to attend. It was an experience of a life time.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Type of Read:
YA Fiction/ Coming of age story

Plot Summary:
Cath is a freshmen in college, utterly alone in this new and terrifying world. Sure she had a twin sister, Wren, going to the same school, but they have started to drift apart. Wren wants to go to parties and experience college life. All Cath wants to do is stay in her dorm and write fanfiction for Simon Snow (aka Harry Potter). But life catches up with her. She makes new friends, finds a boyfriend, and discovers that there is more to writing then just Simon Snow.

Strengths:
I think the biggest strength comes from the details. Rowell has such a way of capturing character ticks and movements that it makes me jealous.

Weaknesses:
The only flaws I found were some awkward descriptions like: "his lips were the same color as the inside of his mouth." At this, I pictured purplish lips. Not attractive to me, but to each their own!

Reading other reviews and blogs, I found that some people didn't like how fangirls were portrayed. They felt that fangirls were looked down upon and mocked. I personally didn't get that impression. Sure there was some fun poked at the main character for still being obsessed with Simon Snow and writing fanfiction about it. Cath tries to hide her hobby even though she is really good at it. I mean, I'm still shy about telling people (even people I have known for years) that I dream of being a full time writer one day (not that I'm saying I'm good like Cath, but you get the point). But the Simon Snow obsession was an important plot point. For Cath, Simon Snow was her security blanket which *SPOILER* she eventually loosens her hold on. Cath might have been a nerd, but nerds are celebrated these days. Again, I personally didn't see anything wrong with it, but that's just my opinion.

Opinion and Recommendation:
I don't normally read fiction. I prefer to lose myself in a fantasy or a science fiction novel. But this was an exception. It was such a charming coming of age story. Also, I saw a lot of myself in Cath. She's reclusive, doesn't like change, doesn't like to be around a large group of strangers, doesn't open up easily, relies on her comfort zone, likes to bury herself in writing and reading, tends to have flawed logic that strangely makes sense etc. Seeing Cath mature was like seeing a flower opening. The romance in this book was so sweet and the ending was so perfect, that I still find myself thinking about it. I borrowed the audio book from the library, but I have added this book to the massive list of "Must buys".