Good Reads

Books vs. Movies – Part 1

/ still a dreamer

There’s something exciting about reading a terrific book and then going to the movies to watch the film created from it.  However, I, and most folks I know, are of the opinion that the book generally outshines the movie, if for no other reason that so much of a book’s depth and detail cannot possibly be portrayed in the short time allowed for a film. This is not always the case, but I get ahead of myself.

Having recently read The Bridges of Madison County, I rented the movie. I must say I was really disappointed. First, the book is a very short novel; the movie ran 2-1/4 hours long. As mentioned in an earlier post where I wrote about the book, I had my doubts about Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood cast as the main characters — both outstanding actors, but I didn’t imagine them in these roles. Again, my personal opinion. I would have much preferred Sam Elliot, or even Kevin Costner, (as he is now), as Robert Kincaid; maybe I’ve just seen Clint Eastwood in too many hard and/or violent roles. Meryl Streep, so brilliant, just couldn’t cut it for me as an Italian woman, now Iowa farm wife. It really took away from the story, and that seemed so drawn out over the course of the 2+ hour movie. I’d stick with the book.

So I’m wondering … did you read the book and/or see the movie? Who might you picture in the roles of Francesca and Robert? Or did Eastwood and Streep fill the bill for you?

p.s. This is just Part 1. Down the road, we’re going to have some fun with Part 2 and onward … it’s all about reading and imagination and what we see.

I See You Everywhere – a Novel

/ still a dreamer / 4 Comments

I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass was another selection from this year’s annual county library sale. Why did I pick it up?

Several reasons. One, I loved the title. All you can see at the book sale are the titles in the way they are arranged. That title drew my attention because of the many possibilities of what it might be about. Two, I was totally drawn to the cover, with this magnificent pitcher of crackled turquoise glass and the seashell. So simple, and yet so arresting. And, I just realized as I write this, each of these two objects may symbolize the two main characters.

Three, the storyline. I was intrigued by the story of two sisters, four years apart, so totally different and how they grew both individually and in their relationship to each other over 25 years. (I also picked I See You Everywhere because a fellow writer has a middle grade novel of two sisters, twins actually, and I thought this might be helpful to her in her characterization.) So an unknown book and author that can appeal on numerous levels right off the bat? A good thing!

The story starts when Clem is still in college and Louisa graduated and beginning a career. Louisa is the conservative and conscientious sister who yearns for a career in art, a good marriage and a family. Clem, 4 years younger, is a rebel who takes on adventurous assignments working with animals in faraway places, daring, and not one to settle down with any one man. Louisa’s and Clem’s stories are told in first person, present tense, alternating between the two sisters. How they move through their lives and their feelings about each other reveals their own personal issues, their challenges, their sisterly resentments, jealousies, and compassion for one another.

I found this to be a very well-written novel. I’ve never read Julia Glass before, but she has a National Book Award behind her for Three Junes, and has written another novel as well. Her use of language is lovely, and I enjoyed that immensely. I was able to identify more readily with one of the characters, though both are entirely relatable, and that character – Clem – drew me in more perhaps for what wasn’t said than what was. This was a good read.

The only thing I noticed, and this was probably only because I just finished How to Save A Life by Sara Zarr, is that I felt I was always reading the author’s voice, not the individual character. What really wowed me about Zarr’s YA novel, also two females, (teens), written first person, present, is that whether you read Mandy or Jill, you always felt they were writing their own chapters. This is no small feat, and I was truly impressed.  In I See You Everywhere, although I was reading Clem or Louisa’s thoughts, it seemed the same beautiful language either way. Happily, it is beautifully written, but following on the heels of Sara Zarr’s book, it was something I noticed.

As for the story, I did enjoy it. I cared about Louisa and Clem. I enjoyed watching them grow, deal with heartache and pain, challenges, successes and failures. The story takes a twist at the end that I never saw coming, and I’m still not sure how it’s sitting with me. But that the author has me thinking about it after I’ve moved on to my next read … well, that says something about a good storyteller.

How to Save A Life – YA Novel

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

YA NovelHow to Save A Life by Sara Zarr is aptly titled, though it’s not quite clear whose life (or lives) will ultimately be saved nor how until the tension starts building well into the book. I really liked this novel. The story is told in first person in alternating chapters by the two main characters, Jill and Mandy. The book designer was insightful enough to use a different font for each chapter and head it with the character’s name, which made it ever so easy to always know who was speaking. (Unlike an adult book which I am reading now with 2 characters alternating, but which does not help the reader with this very simple aid.)

Jill, a senior in high school, is trying to adjust to the sudden death of her father, with whom she was most closely identified. In addition to her future plans being unclear, Jill now has to adjust to her mother, Robin, having decided to adopt a baby. Mandy is a pregnant teenage girl from Omaha, who needs to get away from an abusive home situation and who has connected with Robin online to give her baby away. Additionally, there is a love interest or two for Jill, but plenty of conflicts for all of the characters.

One of the things that is so very impressive in How to Save A Life is the absolute consistency of voice of both Mandy and Jill, and I say kudos to Sara Zarr for pulling this off so amazingly. I found the story to move along at a slow and gentle pace for quite some time, gradually revealing Jill and Mandy’s situations, feelings and conflicts. It builds quite  seamlessly to the point that could change everything, and then the pace picks up rapidly.

Mandy and Jill are as different as day and night, as are their life circumstances, but Zarr never gave me any real reason to change my mind about how I felt about them, no matter how they behaved or what choices they made. Mandy and Jill’s choices were always understandable, always forgivable, no matter how seemingly selfish, unwise or uninformed. This is the mark of a great author, to create characters we genuinely care about and with whom we can identify.

I recommend How to Save A Life to anyone who enjoys a good read and wonderful character development. For those of us who are writing, how Sara Zarr has put it all together is enlightening, as well.

Did I Go Overboard (at the Book Sale?)

/ still a dreamer / 2 Comments

Or maybe the question really should be, can one go overboard at this book sale?

I met my friend and her daughter in the library parking lot, eager to spend time together as well as pick up a few select books. I had a very short list as I still have quite a few books from last year, and figured I’d just be quasi-aimlessly browsing. Up the aisles, down the aisles, I wasn’t seeing much of interest at all. Then all of a sudden it was like something kicked in and books I wanted were everywhere! Alas, I checked out with two big canvas bags of books.

At a $1 for hardbound and large paperbacks, $.50 for smaller paperbacks, how bad could I feel?

What you don’t see here are the 3 Twilight books I have not yet read — that’s for whenever — a replacement of a truly fabulous book, White Oleander,  I’d lent someone and may never see again, and a copy of a book I’d lent a friend which she liked so much, (and returned), I thought she might like her own copy.

What else did I get? Some new (to me) titles by authors that I love – Second Nature and The Third Angel by Alice Hoffman, And Both Were Young by Madeleine L’Engle, Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans and one excellent writer I haven’t read in ages – Pandora by Anne Rice. I also picked up a couple authors I really enjoy when I want a somewhat lighter read – Body Surfing by Anita Shreve, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiassen, and a couple books by authors I’ve read and was sufficiently impressed by to want to read more, Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan and The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Here’s hoping their second reads are as riveting as the first!

In addition, I bought one book recommended to me by my book sale buddy, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and two by a lovely woman I was chatting with about some of our favorites. We each took home books recommended by the other. What better place to start up a conversation than in aisles of books! She recommended The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller and A Million Little Pieces by James Frey.

I spotted a few interesting titles and authors I’m not familiar with and believe I will like  … I Am Morgan LeFay by Nancy Springer, Witches on the Road Tonight by Sheri Holman, I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass, The Last Templar by Michael Jecks and That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo. (Turns out I actually have read a book by him before, and I’m glad I got this.)

The damages? Including the 5 books not pictured, a whopping $17.25!  Overboard? I think not.

I just don’t know what to read first.

It’s All About Books – Annual Library Sale

/ still a dreamer

You might think I was a fundraiser for the Hunterdon County Library, (which I am not), but I can’t help but share this wonderful annual opportunity to purchase books at ridiculously low prices! The annual Hunterdon County Library Book Sale is an event not to be missed if you like to read. And that goes for all age groups, fiction and non-fiction.

The sale is held in the National Guard Armory on Rt. 12 in Flemington, New Jersey on Saturday, April 21 and Sunday, April 22nd. In general, hard bound books are $2 and paperbacks, $1, and both are half-price on Sunday. How can you lose? Fiction is in the main armory with a special room for children’s books, and non-fiction in a separate building just across the parking lot. In that section are lots of cookbooks, biographies, history, self-help, etc.

The only problem I see in waiting til Sunday is that last year almost all the YA novels were already gone, certainly the most desirable ones. Bring cloth grocery bags or something to collect and carry your books in while you shop. There is a room where you can “park” what you’ve gathered while you continue to peruse the titles, no charge. But be aware, people come in and buy CARTONS of books – just in case you really want something special.

Parking is free and when the armory lot is full, you can park in the County Complex, (location of the main library), and jitneys run back and forth all day long. Here is all you need to know about the book sale.

Just a note – in 2010, there were 120,000 titles to choose from … I suggest you bring more than one bag.