Book Hype hosts Michal, Karen and Marama discuss good tropes and bad tropes and some book news!

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You can find Book Hype on Twitter at @BookHype.

-We're getting old, guys.

-Is it midlife crisis time?

-We need a red sports car.

What are we reading?

-Frostbite by Richelle Mead

-The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

-The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins

-Red Rising by Pierce Brown

-Caged Warrior by Alan Lawrence Sitomer

-The Hot Zone by Richard Preston

Mini Book Bites: Do we reread books?

-What books do we reread? Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, The Hunger Games, The Lost Years of Merlin, The Queen's Thief, and more!

-Marama once again reminds us how awesome she is.

-What books won't we reread?

Book Bites: What's our favorite reimagining of a classic story or fairy tale?

-First, do we like reimaginings?

-Michal chooses the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer and Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Lani Taylor.

-Marama cheats.

-She chooses His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and Dancing on Knives by Jenny Pausacker

-Karen kind of cheats, too.

-She picks Sherlock and Gnomeo and Juliet.

Terrible Tropes:

-What are tropes?

-Why don't we like love triangles?

-And let's not forget about instalove.

-More heroes should be able to save themselves.

-Don't make your heroes dumb!

-Harry Potter does a lot of things right and no one is surprised.

-Lying tropes always seem counterproductive.

-Is the trope of secret powers unavoidable?

-We need more standalone books.

-Are there too many strong female protagonists in the sci-fi/dystopian genres?

-We have to mention book covers again.

Terrific Twists:

-We like strong female characters that still have emotions (Protector of the Small series by Tamora Pierce)

-Michal is anti-romance and no one is surprised.

-There are a lot of cool twists you can put on a romantic relationship.

-Some of these include Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Life in Outer Space by Melissa Kiel, The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider, and Froi of the Exiles by Melina Marchetta.

-Flashbacks can also be a great trope to use, such as in On the Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and Tape by Steven Camden.

-Non-romantic relationships are always great.

News

-Speedreading 101!

-Allegiant will be split?

-Grasshopper Jungle is getting a movie??

-Marama is excited for something no one else is excited for!

Next on Book Hype…

-No episode next week.

-Read House of Silk!

-We get the low-down on Anthony Horowitz (author of the Alex Rider series) and his Sherlock story.

Feedback

-Do we buy a physical copy of a book if we already have it on an eBook?

-Michal has an amazing idea.

-Thanks for loving our show!

-What book related things did we do this year?

-Marama once again hates us Americans for going to BEA.

-But not as much as Richard hates us for making him go to the Vampire Academy set.

-What books were our favorites?

-Which movie adaptations did we like best?

-Which ones were the worst?

-Michal is the Marama of this episode.

-Which were our favorite series?

-Which series ended this year?

-We talk about Allegiant. Refrain from hate mail, please.

-Marama is not subtle.

-We're hiring Marama to read our novels before we publish them.

-Which standalones were our favorites?

-Theo James.

-What can you expect from Book Hype in 2014?

Our favorite books from 2013:

-This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales

-The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead

-The Dream Thieves by Maggie Steifvater

-The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

-The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

-Quintana of Charyn by Melina Marchetta

-Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

-Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

-The First Third by Will Kostakis

-House of Hades by Rick Riordan

-Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

-Fire with Fire by Jenny Han