Nina vs. ARGH: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares US vs. Aussie Cover

You all know how crazy I am for Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.  Believe it or not, every time I see a post about that book, I'll make it a point to read it, though I don't comment much (sorry, I'll try to improve on that).  But there was this one time, when I saw Chachic's - of Chachic's Book Nook - book review of Dash and Lily - ,  I discovered this awesome, awesome book cover, which she said was the Aussie edition.  ARGH and I loved it, but I told him I still liked the US version. So we decided to do a Small Review and make a 'Cover Crazy'-like comparison (argument) between the two.

Here's what we're talking about:

                                              Aussie                                                    U.S.


I said that I liked the U.S. cover better because:

1. It's the cover of my own Dash and Lily copy.
2. It's red, which reminds me of the red notebook they passed back and forth.
3. It gives you that Christmas-y aura and the feeling that you are getting a piece of New York, those things reminded me of their adventure through passing the red notebook back and forth.  For me, that Book of Dares was what made Dash and Lily's relationship special because really, how often do you meet a person through a notebook in a bookstore?  Dash and Lily may be different and under ordinary circumstances would never think of hooking up, so making them come together is romantic enough, but it only gets more awesome and book worthy because they met in a totally unique way, knowing and understanding each other before they actually met.

On the other hand, ARGH liked the Aussie cover because:

1. It features a caricature of Dash and Lily which shows how different they are from each other.  That makes ARGH appreciate more how these two teenagers who are worlds apart in their personalities and backgrounds come together.
2. The sketch enforces the visual he has of Dash and Lily in his mind and helps him think clearly and empathize more with the characters because the picture helps him think that they are actual persons.
3. He is crazy for bright colors, which attracts a lot of attention especially for monsters like him.

So there you go, can you help me and ARGH settle this discussion once and for all?  Which do you like better, the U.S. or the Aussie cover?  Are you with ARGH or with me?

     

Do You Have A Background Music?

I was looking for new Christmas songs that I could listen to without getting a thousand different versions of Let It Snow when I came across Owl City's Christmas Song.  When I listened to it, I found myself recalling lines, images, and pages from Dash and Lily's Book of Dares involuntarily.  I always said that reading a Levithan work (even a collaboration) makes me play a background music in my head, and I used to hear December 2 Chapter VII while reading Dash and Lily.  But when I heard this Christmas song, I felt that it was even more perfect because yes, the story of Dash and Lily happen during the holidays and Lily loves Christmas, Dash hates it, all the more making this song appropriate. 

Listen to it, to see what I mean:

I did not want a video with visuals, might interfere with the images from the book that come rushing in my head.

But even if I'm not reading a Levithan book, I still hear music while reading a book sometimes, especially if it's really good and really gets into me.  While reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead I heard Polite Dance Song by The Bird and the Bee.  When I was reading Wintergirls, I was hearing What It Feels Like for a Girl by Madonna.  As for what I'm currently reading, for Delirium I hear The Time by the Black Eyed Peas.  Okay, so it's not that appropriate, especially with the "dirty bit" thingy interrupting my thoughts every now and then, but that's what my brain plays and I can't do anything about it, unless I could get brain surgery, and I wouldn't want that.

How about you?  Do you associate any book with a particular music?  If you do, what song do you play in your head for what you're reading now?

Dash and Lily's Book Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

(Photo taken from Goodreads)

Title: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares

Author: Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 0375866590
ISBN - 13: 978-0375866593
Rating:







How to present this review, I wasn't exactly sure. I wanted to give it a unique review in the way that it has given me a unique read. But alas, my creativity deserted me. So let's just talk about the book, and maybe I'll think of something great as I go. This is the third collaboration between Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Previous books included Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist, which was made into a movie starring Michael Cera and Kat Dennings, and Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. Sweet, huh?

Let's go to the blurb, which is, apart from David Levithan, what made me get it in the first place:

"I've left some clues for you.

If you want them, turn the page.
If you don't, put the book back on the shelf,
please.

So begins the latest whirlwind romance from the bestselling authors of Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist. Lily has left a red notebook full of challenges on a favorite bookstore shelf, waiting for just the right guy to come along and accept its dares. But is Dash that right guy? Or are Dash and Lily only destined to trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations across New York? Cold their in-person selves possibly connect as well as their notebook versions? Or will they be a comic mismatch of disastrous proportions?"

Writing this book, the authors exchanged emails - not a red Moleskine notebook - and no plans were made beforehand. As I was reading, I imagined them playing a game of continue-my-email-story, Levithan writing something about Dash and then daring Cohn to follow up with an appropriate but quirky response through Lily. I am almost sure that is what happened, and the result? A pleasant, fun, smart, and endearing story of an adventure through New York to find not just love, but friendship, answers, and self.

The best thing about reading a David Levithan book is that while reading, I have this background music for that book. For Boy Meets Boy, although Tony by Patty Griffin was mentioned a few times, with a dedication to the Tony from the song, I always heard Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest, maybe it was because the first chapter had Paul and his friends dancing in the bookstore. I think this is because his books are filled to the brim with music references, and with Rachel Cohn with him at the helm, it just got better, and this one is no exception. If you read it, you might even be pleasantly surprised to see some cameos from another book of theirs. But back to the music: for Dash and Lily's, I always heard December 2 Chapter VII by a band here in the Philippines, Taken by Cars. I think because this story was set in December that I immediately thought of that song. And probably this part too:

"But I wasn't where you were
No, I was never where you are
I'm in my looking-glass view
Always almost too close to you
I'm always almost too close to you."

When I hear those lyrics, I think of Dash and Lily and think how they were almost the ones who knew each others' real feelings and secrets, yet they do not even really know each other.

I totally loved this book! It was filled with interesting characters, popular New York landmarks, and even better dialogue. The conversations between Dash and Lily in their red notebook was very meaningful and inspirational, it was a well-written essay about identity, hope, and other such deep and thoughtful subjects. Come to think of it, the whole book was almost like reading a beautiful essay, only this was a beautiful work of fiction. Some might think that because of these deep and meaningful stuff, then it might not be a good choice for teens, but really, young adults would enjoy this book. I think this story could actually answer some questions that most of them have, that most people have. Even looking past the ponderous ideas thrown back and forth between the two main characters, and just reading this for the story that it is, is very interesting, engrossing, and enjoying.

The authors also threw in a lot of humor, and readers will find themselves laughing out loud at some scenes. But the story is not just humor-filled, it has a lot of emotions thrown in that readers will find themselves commiserating with Lily, falling for Dash, annoyed at the bookstore people, even becoming endeared to that cute and cuddly great-aunt Ida/Mrs. Basil. E. It makes you wish you were part of that story.

Another reason why I would love to recommend this book is that it's got a lot of words that we can add into our vocabulary. Dash is a word nerd, and his dialogue has a lot of words like erudition, arcane - I'm not sure if many of you use these in daily conversations but it sounded very uncommon to me. And of course, knowing uncommon words is always an uncommon advantage.

I would gladly recommend this book to all my friends and people I know. I am pretty sure everyone would enjoy this, as there is something in Dash and Lily's for everyone. And I'm pretty sure I would re-read this countless times. Definitely one of my favorites for this year!

According to the news, the movie rights for this book was already acquired by Scott Rudin and writing/directing the film adaptation would be Lena Dunham. Gotta watch out for that!

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!

My Teaser:

"I wrote a final entry in the notebook and closed it, perhaps for good.

I'm gripped by a cherishing so deep."

-page 162, Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan