#gregory scott katsoulis

[cyclone-rachel]

favorite books read in 2023 in no particular order:

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

An Unauthorised Fan Treatise by Lauren James

Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Ballad for Sophie by Filipe Melo and Juan Cavia

Deadendia volumes 1 and 2 by Hamish Steele

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder

Lone Women by Victor LaValle

Ducks by Kate Beaton

Chlorine by Jade Song

The Thick and the Lean by Chana Porter

Mister Magic by Kiersten White

It’s Better to be Feared by Seth Wickersham

Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything by Justine Pucella Winans

Walking Practice by Dolki Min

Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang

Parasocial by Alex de Campi

[-outofcontext-]

All Rights Reserved #OutOfContext

[slaughter-books]

Day 31: BFTbookchallenge: July Wrap Up

My July, 2019 reading wrap-up and my cat trying to help me take the photo! 😋💞

[president-homewrecker-arts]

Hey, I did a new speedpaint! Check it out!

[metalandmagi]

I don't think I've ever opened a book and had the map give me psychic damage before.

[book-marked-reading]

Book Review: All Rights Reserved

Book Review: All Rights Reserved

I finally got round to finishing this book a little while back, and I am so glad I did! As usual, I will avoid going into too much detail regarding the plot so as to prevent spoiling it for any potential readers. 

The protagonist in this novel is Speth. Her name was chosen for it’s low price – the world she lives in charges citizens for everything. After the age of 15, a special cuff tracks…

[readingriley]

All Rights Reserved

by Gregory Scott Katsoulis 

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun fast paced read. I’d describe it as Hunger Games meets Black Mirror. There is something pretty sobering about this dark future of America. At the same time it is packed with excitement and left me constantly wanting to know what was going to happen next. 

[passionforfic]

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

Intellectual Property, Copyright, Patents, Trademark, All Rights Reserved, Public Domain, Right Holders, Internet, personalized marketing . . . This book opens the doors to a discussion that is very heated but necessary. It is all about the delicate balance - unbalance - in the Copyright law between the rights of the Right Holders and the General Public.  In a place where Right Holders have total power over words and ideas, there is no true prosperity or creativity; only a few rich and a great population of people suppressing their ideas and expressions because they can't afford it.  Things that had been invented and malfunction can't be improved because everything is so protected, no one can build from an idea and make it better because they will be confronted with a lawsuit.  People are controlled through technology and the internet becomes a tool of manipulation and control. ​Speth chooses silence because that's the only way she can express her anger and antagonism to the system.  Silence is one of the few things that is in Public Domain. She didn't intend to start a rebellion but she did. Her complete silence incapacitates her. It is not ideal. People need to communicate but she will not do so until things change drastically. There are loses and a lot of tension in this story.   The action is kind of slow but as readers we feel the desperation, anger and fear. It shows the importance of  Freedom of Speech and it makes the reader reflect on the original intent of the Copyright Law and how big corporations (Right Holders) - through laws -  are taking away more and more rights from the general public.  Speth reminds us that Right Holders - in most cases - are not the original creators of the Intellectual Property but the people or corporations that bought the rights in order to gain the most profit out of it.   The story is not set in a far away time. The time is barely decades away from our present. What does that tell us? We need to be active protectors of the rights of content creators and consumers, maintain the balance that will ensure that science and the arts will continue evolving.  We also need to make sure the Internet is neutral and not used to manipulate and control us. This story just keeps us wanting to know what happens next and reminds us of the importance of balance, Intellectual Freedom and Freedom of Speech.

[mobilepubliclibraryteens]

In a world where every word and gesture is copyrighted, patented or trademarked, one girl elects to remain silent rather than pay to speak, and her defiant and unexpected silence threatens to unravel the very fabric of society. Speth Jime is anxious to deliver her Last Day speech and celebrate her transition into adulthood. The moment she turns fifteen, Speth must pay for every word she speaks ("Sorry" is a flat ten dollars and a legal admission of guilt), for every nod ($0.99/sec), for every scream ($0.99/sec) and even every gesture of affection. She's been raised to know the consequences of falling into debt, and can't begin to imagine the pain of having her eyes shocked for speaking words that she's unable to afford. But when Speth's friend Beecher commits suicide rather than work off his family's crippling debt, she can't express her shock and dismay without breaking her Last Day contract and sending her family into Collection. Backed into a corner, Speth finds a loophole: rather than read her speech - rather than say anything at all - she closes her mouth and vows never to speak again. Speth's unexpected defiance of tradition sparks a media frenzy, inspiring others to follow in her footsteps, and threatens to destroy her, her family and the entire city around them.

[cyclone-rachel]

books read in October and November 2023:

October:

Crudo by Olivia Liang

The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell

And What Can We Offer You Tonight by Premee Mohamed

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval

Dogs of Summer by Andrea Abreu Lopez

Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

The Last Fallen Moon by Graci Kim

Superman: The Harvests of Youth by Sina Grace

FantasticLand by Mike Bockoven

Invincible Compendium vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

Hey, Hun by Emily Lynn Paulson

Weasels in the Attic by Hiroko Oyamada

Lucky Penny by Ananth Hirsh

November:

Victor and Nora by Lauren Myracle

All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis

Invincible Compendium vol. 2 by Robert Kirkman

Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Loathe to Love You by Ali Hazelwood

Mem by Bethany C. Morrow

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker

Lightlark by Alex Aster

Check and Mate by Ali Hazelwood

The House of Kent by Brian Michael Bendis

White Holes by Carlo Rovelli

Parasocial by Alex de Campi

Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld

[24zallurabbits]

Read in two days because I couldn't put it down. Really fantastic, super interesting premise. For a harlequin teen books, there is surprisingly very little romance, which is a-okay. Also there was a definite conclusion, but plenty of room for a sequel.

[booksbeyondimagining]

August 2017 | Books Read This Month

This is Not the End, by Chandler Baker*

Shimmer and Burn, by Mary Taranta*

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, by F. C. Yee*

Wicked Like a Wildfire, by Lana Popovic*

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding, by Alexandra Bracken*

All Rights Reserved, by Gregory Scott Katsoulis*

Black Bird of the Gallows, by Meg Kassel*

*indicates an egalley/ARC

Most enjoyed this month: The Epic Crush of Genie Lo, The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding

Least enjoyed this month: Wicked Like a Wildfire

[slaughter-books]

Day 28: BFTbookchallenge: Quit Playing Games With My Heart

I couldn't figure out what to do for this prompt, so I took a photo of my immediate TBR! 💛

[journeyintotheshelves]

Tuesday’s Treats is a weekly blog post dedicated to newly released books that I’m most excited for. (Books are in no particular order.)

All books featured this week will be released: AUGUST 29th

1. The Dazzling Heights (The Thousandth Floor: 2): Katharine McGee (goodreads) (book depository)

Glitz, glam, love, and secrets, Katharine McGee’s The Thousandth Floor was chock full of everything that is in a good elite society novel, with the added bonus of being set in New York City 100 years in the future. The Dazzling Heights promises all that and much more with higher stakes, more secrets, and even more glam. I cannot wait to get my hands on a copy after the twist at the end of the last novel.

YA Science Fiction; HarperCollins, Hardcover (US)

2. Wonder Woman: Warbringer: Leigh Bardugo (goodreads) (book depository)

Wonder Woman and Leigh Bardugo. Need I say more?

YA Fantasy, Superhero; Random House, Hardcover (US)

3. Thornhill: Pam Smy (goodreads) (book depository)

Two stories: one in the past and one in the present, two writing styles: one in prose and one in illustrations, Thornhill follows the parallel and intertwining stories of Mary and Ella and their relationship with the strange and mysterious Thornhill house. I was lucky enough to snag an advanced copy of this book at BEA this year and immediately fell in the love with the art style, so I’m so stoked that this book is out into the wild.

Upper Middle Grade Mystery/Horror, Graphic Novel; Roaring Brook Press/Macmillan, Hardcover (US)

4. All Rights Reserved (Word$: 1): Gregory Scott Katsoulis (goodreads) (book depository)

What would you do if you had to pay for every word you spoke, every gesture you made? This is the world that Speth lives in: where the moment she turns fifteen, everything she says and does will now cost her. She’s grown up knowing the price of everything, and the cost of falling in debt, that she feels that she’s ready. That is, until her friend commits suicide rather than live in this world, and Speth can’t express herself and her grief without putting her and her family in debt. So, instead, she decides to not speak at all. With this act of defiance, Speth is thrown into the front of a rebellion that may cost her everything.

YA Dystopian; Harlequin Teen, Hardcover (US)

5. Bernie Sanders Guide to Political Revolution: Bernie Sanders & Kate Waters (goodreads) (book depository)

When Bernie Sanders ran for President, he sparked and inspired a youth revolution and youth involvement in politics that has changed the face of current American politics. With this book, he continues his message and lays the groundwork to help future generations get interested and involved in government.

YA Nonfiction; Henry Holt/Macmillan, Hardcover (US)

6. Patina (Track: 2): Jason Reynolds (goodreads) (book depository)

Patina, aka Patty, runs to escape. Escape the teasing from the kids at her new school, escape the disease that took her mom’s legs and maybe, one day, take her life. But she keeps running, and keeping everything that she thinks and feels inside herself, snapping at anyone who tries to help her. To get through to her, Coach enlists her for the relay where Patina has to rely on other people to win, and for the first time she’s not running alone.

I read Ghost earlier this year and fell in love with Jason Reynold’s writing, and immediately added every book he’s ever written and is coming out on my TBR. Patina was one of my favorite characters from Ghost, so I’m so excited that her story is finally out.

Middle Grade Contemporary Fiction; Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, Hardcover (US)

7. Mask of Shadows: Linsey Miller (goodreads) (book depository)

All Sal wants to do is escape their life as a thief, and trade it in for a seat in the upper-class, so they can exact their revenge on the nobles who destroyed their home. When an opportunity to join The Left Hand, the Queen’s personal assassins, Sal leaps at the chance, and is ready to do whatever it takes to join. But Sal isn’t quite prepared for the tasks at hand, but that doesn’t mean they can’t win, they only have to survive.

YA Fantasy, LGBTQIA+; Sourcebooks Fire, Hardcover (US)

[reddoorbooks]

Reading an advance copy of All Rights Reserved by Gregory Scott Katsoulis. Not on sale until August 2017, at which point I can’t wait to hear other opinions on this strange book. In a future where everything is copyrighted, including words, one teen girl’s silence after the suicide of a good friend sparks a revolution. It’s both ridiculous and profound, and I can’t stop reading it.