New Books in the New Year

Here are some books I'll be reading in the new year. What's on your immediate-read list?

When is a bookstore not a bookstore?

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore has something for nerds of all stripes: books nerds, Tolkien nerds, typography nerds, technology nerds, just to name a few. With a few more elements of universal appeal thrown in: friendship, romance, quest for immortality, and a mystery, and voila: a fun and engaging read. 

I do have to confess that at times, while following the narrator's line of thinking as he solved the mystery, I got slightly lost. There were quite a few Aha! moments that, for me at least, turned out to be not quite as momentous as the book portrayed them. 

This book has been compared on many end-of-year lists to Where'd You Go, Bernadette? as books that are written for an intelligent audience who may need a short reprieve from deep, thought-provoking book but still want to be transported by excellent writing. It seems like a bit of a back-handed compliment, especially for an author who touched on some Big Themes, albeit delivered in easy-going, almost slacker language. I think I understand what there readers are trying to say though, and I agree. This is a very well-written book without pretensions and affectations. I enjoyed it.

Here is a quote from the book: 

"I always thought the key to immortality would be, like, tiny robots fixing things in your brain," she said. "Not books."

  
My only question is, why is the font on the cover not in Gerritzoon?       

Life is Good

Ahhhhh!

That's the sound of a contented sigh. What brought it about? The last few books that I have read, all of which have been good. My faith in humanity is reaffirmed. 

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? and Broken Harbor are both hugely popular books, which usually means I approach them with fear and trepidation because however much I try, I always go in with heightened expectations. At the back of my mind is always that niggling naysayer. 

But both of these more than lived up to the expectations. Isn't that always such a relief?

First, Bernadette.

What is the book about? It's about the redemption of a self-absorbed woman. No, not exactly. It's a quest of a fifteen-year old to find her mom. Not totally. It's about mistakes. It's a family story. It is a mystery. It is a story told in multiple points of view via email and letters and regular prose interwoven together. It's about Microsoft and robotics and penguins and Antarctica and architecture and Seattle and artists becoming the menace of society. 

(I really would love to know the elevator pitch of this one. Or even the synopsis.)

The novel contains all of the above yet (cliche alert!) the result is not only so much more than the sum of its parts, it is a totally different species.

It is a story well told that is in part hilarious, without overt cleverness, and in part sad. The traits of the characters are scarily recognizable and unlike my prose here, not cliched-ridden. If I were told earlier on that the story would be told partially through email and letters from different povs, I'd conclude that it was a lazy choice, a gimmick. But it's not. Or maybe it is, but I didn't care. I was drawn into the story and its characters, without really identifying with Bernadette nor her daughter, Bee (just who is the main protagonist, anyway?) and was willingly being taken along for the ride. 

A great ride. A wonderful read. 

(Next up, my thoughts on Broken Harbor.)  

So that's what she looks like?

You know how when you read about a character and start forming ideas about what she looks like and how she sounds? I do anyway. And as I continue, the image is either confirmed or modified by new information. Most of the time, I feel all smug like a good student when I get it right.

But every once in a while, the surprise that the character is nothing like what I've formed in my mind is priceless.

Audrey Griffin, a parent at a private school who is going to host a brunch in her home for prospective parents. I thought: nice hair, good skin, tasteful clothing, posh accent.

Then I see her--running, puffing, her grey hair coming loose from her ponytail, wearing a down vest and pleated pants--and I just feel pure delight!

(Name the book and tell me if you aren't enjoying it.)
(hint: I just mentioned it recently on my face book author page.)

Post conference bookapalooza

The Lines and Letters Conference organized by the Rocky Mountain Chapter of SCBWI this past weekend provided a time of recharging for me. My mind has been provoked and opened and challenged. I'll do a quick recap soon but for now, here is the list of books I am going to read as a result of recommendations:

 











Have you read all/any of these? Any thoughts? Favorite passages? Most unforgettable characters?

Escaped the claws

This is just a short post to report that I did finish my manuscript for my critique group and now I am working hard on the revision. 

The most eye-opening result of this little exercise is this: the reason I had so much trouble finishing up the manuscript is that I had been trying to write two stories into one. Too many relationships were left shallow, several characters left single-dimensional, and most important of all, each of the main character had to nip/tuck their stories to fit the other's.

I have to say that the realization not only made a lot of sense but brought a degree of calmness. I have restarted the novel focused on only one of the two original protagonists--assuring the other that I will come back to her another day for her very own story--and find that my mind feels less cluttered and distracted.

I'm on Chapter 5 and I have a good feeling about this. 

Read it, Maybe

Yes, it's a cheesy parody, but it's fun. 

Also, did you notice I inserted a comma in the title? 

The Gauntlet...

...has been thrown down.

The next time I submit to my critique group, my first draft will be finished.

Part of the reason I can't finish the book is that I have lost the focus of my original vision; I have been distracted by other shiny possibilities and strayed off the path. Or maybe subconsciously I think that if I don't finish it I don't have to face this product that is so far from what I imagined in my head. If I hold on to the fact that "I am still writing the story" I can still salvage what has become an unwieldy mess in my mind. 

But my critique group, patient saints though they all are, has had enough of my 40 years of wandering, and has given me the command: finish the thing, and do so by September. 

It's time. Enough. The end is near.

I accept the challenge. (Or suffer the consequences at this gauntlet.)