Top 9 of 2008

Okay, this has to be a top 9 because well, there aren't 10 books that I feel that I can say I loved this year - of course that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm down from over 70 books read from last year to just over 30 this year, including audio books. Oh, and it should be noted that it doesn't mean that they were published in 2008 - just that I read them in 2008.

So, without further ado, here were my favorites of 2008 listed in no particular order (other than the order that I read them):

1. The Second Virginity of Suzy Green by Sara Hantz. I'll be honest, I picked this one up because Amanda Ashby is Sara's good friend and I absolutely loved Amanda's book, You Had Me At Halo - it's one of my all time favorite books. But you know what? I really liked this book. Very smart, relatable characters that I liked and a believable storyline. I'd definitely recommend it to others.



2. Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. I'd read the author's other book, Forget about it last new year's eve and couldn't put it down. It was hysterical. So, I picked up a copy of this book - which I believe was an earlier book. Anyway, this one was hysterical too. The heroine is not always believable in the things she does but the writing and the fun of it all was so good, I didn't care. If you want to laugh, I'd say this would be a good choice.


3. The Devil's Daughter by Laura Drewry. I'm a huge fan of all things Laura Drewry. I've read all of her books but I have to say, this one was my favorite. The things that come to mind that I loved so much about the story are things that would give plot twists away and include spoilers and I don't want to do that but I can say without hesitation, I really liked this book a lot. :)



4. Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella. I'll start this by saying, I don't recall specific details of this story because I've read several "amnesia" stories in the last year and a half. However, I do recall the feeling that I was reading a classic Sophie Kinsella, which would mean I loved it. I've enjoyed everything she's written, with the exception of the Shopaholic and Sister story - and I was glad to see that one book was the fluke that didn't fit with the others.


5. Unpredictable by Eileen Cook. This was a book that I was seeing talked up early in the year. I'd put it on my "save for later" cart over at Amazon but never actually got around to purchasing (I blame school and work). Then I met Eileen in San Francisco and instantly liked her and got an autographed copy of the book. It wasn't long after that that I pulled it out and read it and it is hysterical. Seriously, I don't know when I've laughed so much. It's up there with my favorite books of all time. Highly recommend it.

6. The Fidelity Files by Jessica Brody. This is one that I saw recommended on Amanda Ashby's blog. She had met Jessica in San Francisco and interviewed her for her blog (Jessica later returned the favor via Skype). On the blog she had the book trailer. I got to tell you, few book trailers have made me want to buy a book but this one did. It was done like a movie and I still want them to do the movie. When my local bookstore didn't have it in stock, I ordered it online and promptly read it when it arrived. It lived up to the trailer. Another I would highly recommend.

7. What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook. After I read Unpredictable, I started following Eileen's blog. She's had the WWED information up for a while now. And to be honest, I hadn't expected to buy it, after all it's a YA. Then one day I was checking out her blog and decided to check out the first chapter of the book. I only read a couple of paragraphs before I went over to amazon and ordered the book. I ordered several other books that I had to wait for because WWED wasn't released yet. It came a day or two before Christmas and I read it within a couple of days of when it arrived. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Now, that's all I had for "chosen" reading to list but I wanted to come as close to 10 as I could so I decided to include "required" reading (ie for class/school). I'm not going to post the cover here though - sorry. ;)

8. Cymbeline by William Shakespeare. I took a Shakespeare class and this was the only one that I didn't have to read page after page of "footnotes" in order to understand the language. I'm a visual person and I could totally visualize this story. I totally did the laughing out loud with a maybe snort laugh when reading this one. :)

9. The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was drawn in immediately into the story and instantly cared about the characters. It wasn't at all predictable and I loved that even though, by today's standards, it's a historical, it was a novel that when written reflected the times as they were then. That's so fascinating to me. The only downfall to this story for me was that we were having to read criticisms of the novel as we went along and they had some unexpected spoilers in them - which wouldn't be a problem for someone else just picking up the novel to read.


So that's my list. Now, I want to say that this doesn't mean that other books on my list weren't good, it just means that they didn't stand out like these did for me.

But that's my list. . . what made your list?

Spotlight on...Eileen Cook

I haven't gotten to read as much this year as I would like to, what with school and changing jobs (twice) but that just makes finding a well-written, funny story all the more enjoyable. What Would Emma Do? by Eileen Cook is one such book. I read it mostly in one sitting - I couldn't put it down. (You might recall I had a similar reaction to her book, Unpredictable, as well.)

It's smart and funny and I thoroughly enjoyed it. (You can see her book trailer here.) So, I emailed the author and asked if she would answer a few questions - and she said yes. Here's what she had to say. :)

Tell us about your story.
Thou shalt not kiss thy best friend’s boyfriend…again….

There is no greater sin than kissing you best friend’s boyfriend. So when Emma breaks that golden rule, she knows she’s messed up big-time. Especially since she lives in the smallest town ever, where everyone knows everything about everyone else….and especially because she maybe kinda wants to do it again. Now her best friend isn’t speaking to her, her best guy friend is making things totally weird, and Emma is running full speed toward certain social disaster. This is so not the way senior year was supposed to go.

Time to pray for a minor miracle. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s time for Emma to stop trying to please everyone around her, and figure out what she wants for herself.

What's a typical day like for you?
I like the idea of having a typical day, but my life doesn't seem to work that way. I still have my day job on a part time basis so my days are split between those where I wear pantyhose and those that I spend in my sweatpants with my imaginary friends. I tend to set weekly goals for my writing, some days I write all day, sometimes just for an hour, somedays not at all. I try not to worry about any particular moment, but keep the focus on moving forward.

How long have you been writing? How many books did you write before you sold?
I've been writing as long as I can remember. My parents saved a homework assignment I did in second grade. We were supposed to practice writing sentences and I managed to string mine together so that they made a story. The teacher wrote on the paper "someday I'm sure you'll be an author!" After I sold my first book my dad hunted her down. She was in her nineties and in a care home. I brought her a signed copy of my book. She was more interested in telling me about her bunions.

I had at least three completed books before I sold and I can't even tell you how many barely started or half finished projects there were. I still have all of these things saved in my filing cabinet. I'm a believer that you never know when they might come in handy.

What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
The first is to read and read a lot. There is so much to learn and you can learn from the very best by simply taking their book off the shelf. For books I really like (and those I hate) I break them down chapter by chapter to see what the author has done. The second is to write and keep writing. There will be plenty of people who will tell you to quit, but the decision to keep going is with you.

Where do you get your story ideas? What inspires you?
I love to read and I collect odds and ends the way black pants attract lint. I have files stuffed with stories ripped out of papers or magazines. If I see a picture I like it goes into the file as well. I keep a notebook with me at all time and when random things occur to me, or overheard snatches of conversation, I write that in there. I figure my brain is a bit like a compost pile, I just pile everything in there and wait to see what happens.

What do you wish you'd known before you reached where you are now - and would it have made a difference in the steps you've taken to get there?
A wise writer friend once told me: " Writing is a craft, but publishing is a casino." So much of this business is subjective. What one person loves someone else will hate. Genres come and go in terms of popularity. For every person who loves your book someone else will be more than happy to write a long blog post on why they can't stand it. There are many really good stories out there that haven't been published.

I don't think this knowledge would have changed any of the steps I've taken thus far, but it may have cushioned the blow from time to time.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?
I am a panster who has secret plotter envy.

What's it like to write in two different genres? How do you transition between the two?
After I completed my first book, Unpredictable, the market for romantic comedy tanked. My agent suggested that I give writing young adult a try. She thought my voice would work well with that genre. I gave it a try and loved it. There are some genres that while I love reading them, I don't think I could write them. I think the secret to genre jumping is to know your core voice.

I saved my diaries from junior high and high school so I'm thrilled to have a chance to use all that teen angst.

I want to thank Eileen for her time. For more information on Eileen and her books you can visit her website. What Would Emma Do? is currently available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com. Oh, and I want to go on record now, I totally plan to stalk Eileen in DC this summer - assuming she goes. ;)

Heroes, Heroines and other Writerly Stuff

In 2006 a friend of mine was having a contest for a $250 gift card to the bookstore of your choice. Being the book whore that I am, I wanted that gift card. Bad.

How it worked was your name got thrown in the pool if you read 10 books. For every five books beyond that, your name got thrown in again for another chance to win. The contest started on June 1, 2006 and ran through the end of the year. So, from June 1 to December 31 of 2006 I read something like 85 books. (I didn't win the contest, in case you were wondering. *sigh*)

In 2007 I read 70 some-odd books for the entire year.

This year, what with school and all, I haven't had as much time to read. So, with required text books included, I've only read like 30 books this entire year. Which is so depressing. But, I have two weeks off and I'm trying to make up for lost time here, which I don't want to spend on crappy books.

So, what makes a crappy book? Well, it can differ from book to book for me but I started one the other day that goes in the "I rarely ever do this but I'm pitching this book without finishing it" pile. Why? Because there's nothing in it that I can grasp on to to believe. The hero is a country boy (he's done the city life before and didn't care for it so it's not like he doesn't know what he's missing out on - he does and he's not interested in it). The heroine is a city girl, visiting the country on her way to fame and fortune. They meet and are immediately in love with each other - just like that. There's no buildup, no nothing. They just know they want to spend the rest of their lives together. Not that they've said as much to each other. No. As far as that goes, they're standoffish. The hero has something the heroine needs but he's not willing to let her have/use it and politely tells her no. She tells him, in no uncertain terms, that she WILL have it and she's not letting up until he gives it over to her. That's where I have the biggest problem. I want to see the build up of the relationship. I want to see the chemistry take over. I want to fall in love with them. But, when one says no (politely or otherwise) and the other takes steps to manipulate what they want out of the other, that's when I'm done. If they don't respect each other - and show it - I can't get behind the pairing. Not to mention, I don't see how this story can resolve itself without one giving up their dream. How is that a happy ending? This story is part of a series (that I've read a couple of the others of) and everyone ends up in this small country town. Which means the heroine has to give up her dream of fame and fortune. Sure, she might be happy for the here and now but what about in 10 years when he's burping and farting and scratching his balls all the time? Will she still be glad she made the decision she did? Which is another thing, I have to believe that 10, 20 years down the line the couple will be happy. And I just don't see it in this story. So, after only 50 some-odd pages of reading, I'm officially done with that book, for now.

Okay, enough about that - on to the other writerly stuff.

A couple of weeks ago the romance community was having an auction on ebay to help out an author who had lost her husband and had catastrophic medical bills to contend with. So, I went to check out the items and saw this and totally had an image in my head how I could use it in my writing. You see, I've been clipping pictures of people and saving them in an envelope. But I want to use this for the visual. I can post the pictures on the board (the flowers in the corner are magnets) and then put their pictures in the album, telling their story. It arrived yesterday and I can't wait to get it all together and start telling the story.

And hopefully I'll avoid the pitfalls I can't stand in other writer's stories.

I've just shared one of my pet peeves in books. What makes you want to fling a book you're reading across the room? Inquiring minds want to know. :)

White Elephants

Today my group at work had their holiday party. The meats were paid for by the department but everything else was of the potluck variety. I kept a list in my office where people could - but weren't obligated to - sign up so they could see what was needed or be sure they got in what they wanted to get in. We had a pretty good spread.

(That's my boss in the background.)

After we ate we played the White Elephant Game. You know the one. If you want to play, you have to bring a gift. All the gifts are placed on a tableand those bringing gifts draw a number. The person with number 1 goes to the table and picks a gift to unwrap.


We had some interesting "wrapping" - that envelope WAS the "wrapping paper".

Anyway, when number 1 is done, number 2 can either "steal" the present from number 1 or take another gift from the table. If the gift is stolen, then the person whose gift was can either steal someone else's gift (if it's further down the line - if only two have gone there wouldn't be another gift to steal, and you can't steal back your gift). Each gift can be stolen twice before it's "frozen" and it stays with an owner.

What we did to make sure we knew when a gift was frozen was they had to put on a hat - or other item available (hats in the picture above). Someone mentioned that people wouldn't want to wear the hats so I stipulated that if they didn't wear the hat, their present became unfrozen again and could be stolen. Yeah, I know I'm bad but it was totally worth it! lol

The first person to have their gift "frozen" was given a boa to wear.


Doesn't he look thrilled? lol I think it's a good look for him.

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago Christy Craig was having a contest over on her Killer Fiction blog and I said if I won (it was a pooping Santa), I'd put it in a Victoria's Secret bag and put it in the white elephant game at work. And I won. Well, I didn't win-win but she gave me one anyway - I think to see if I would do it and take pictures - and I did. :)

I have to confess that I thought about using something else because I really thought the pooping Santa was cute but I couldn't find the "replacement" gift I was going to use - my step-father's CD with the title song of "I don't look good naked anymore". I mean, really, how funny would that be in a Victoria's Secret bag? But, since I couldn't find it to save my life, I went with Plan A and used the pooping Santa.

Well, it wasn't any time before it got stolen - bag and all.


And a few minutes later, it was forever frozen (and since I was the last number in line, it was before I could steal it :( ).


So, I didn't realize how many "stealers" we'd have in our group and didn't know how many "frozen" hats I'd need. Well, I'd brought three headband hats and the boa. I borrowed six sombreros. I figured that would be enough. Well I was wrong. So, when we ran out of those, I had to get creative. Below are the "alternate" "hats" (yes, I thought the words should be quoted separately ;) ).


(By the way, he was the only one that didn't return his "hat" at the end of the game. No, seriously. lol)


And one last one with all the "hat people".A good time was had by all. :)

Nostalgia

You may have heard the story about the 9-year old Alec Greven who wrote a 46-page book called How To Talk To Girls. You can see an article on it here but basically he wrote it for a class project, went on Ellen Degeneres' show and sold the book to Harper Collins (Ellen came before the sale).

They did a story on this on our local news this past week and were showing pages from the book on air. It's 46 pages - with pictures. As they were discussing it they said something about it being made into a movie. If it was a joke, the reporter (the entertainment reporter at that) didn't let on and the anchors were asking if he was serious and then they all had a brief discussion as to how a 46-page book could (pictures or not) could be made into a movie.

And that's when the nostalgia kicked in. Now, I know I'm dating myself with this but remember Drive-In movies? Carloads of people going to the movie and, depending on where you went, paying by the person (in which case people might hide in the trunk until you got in) or by the carload (in which case you took as many people as could fit in the car for the cheaper cost). You could take the entire family. You could have several carloads of friends and all park together.

You would sit in the car and hang the speaker on your window or bring lawn chairs and sit outside to watch the movie. You could sit on your car - there were any number of ways you could watch the movie. They usually had two movies playing on each screen so you could come and watch two movies back-to-back, or you could leave after the first (or come late and only watch one - some drive-ins charged less if you came later). There was a concession stand usually at the back of the drive in that you could get your drinks and snacks at. And some drive-ins had multiple screens where different movies were playing. Those usually had a community concession stand accessible by all the areas. Some even had areas for the kids to play if they weren't interested in the movie playing.

By now you're probably wondering what all this has to do with the 9-year old's book, right? Well, there really is a connecting thought. See, the movies at the drive-in usually started with some sort of short thing. Maybe a short cartoon or little advertisement. I can't remember whether or not they had previews (I'm thinking no?) but when the little short (whatever it might be) came on, you knew the movie was about to start. I was thinking since it was such a short book, maybe they could make it into a little thing they played at the beginning of the movie at a drive in.

In any event, this strange little story got me to thinking about something I hadn't thought about in a long time. I used to enjoy going to the drive-in and watching a movie - and other such things that have fallen by the wayside.

So what about you? Anything you wish they'd bring back - even just for a day?

I like my theory better

In case you haven't heard, Houston had a snow day the other day. Tuesday the weather was warm - mid to upper 70s, and then a storm came through.

Wednesday it snowed. It snowed! In Texas!!!

Okay, I know there are parts of Texas where snow is not that uncommon but around here? Very uncommon. In fact, it's only snowed here 4 times in my entire life.

Anyway, I had just asked to leave early so that I could go to the grocery store before I had to go to my last class of the semester. My boss said OK and when I got into the parking lot it was already snowing. Not hard and not so that it would stick but still, it was snowing. I went to the grocery store, came home and put on my pajamas. Then I emailed my instructor saying "here's my final exam (thank goodness it was a take-home test!!!) and unless I hear differently from you, I won't be at class tonight because I don't do snow." or words to that effect. I heard from her about an hour and a half later and she emailed me back my grade (including my final grade - I got an A in the class). I heard from a friend the next day. Apparently I was the only one that wimped out on the class but she had everyone grade their own final and then dismissed class. (I would've been so ticked off if I'd gone in just for that! Particularly since I was freaking about the snow - you do know about my two traumatic experiences with snow, right? If not, just know they really were traumatizing and I don't respond well to snow now as a result.) My friend said on her way home there was a light dusting of snow over the Fred Hartman Bridge and you couldn't see where the lanes were. Did I mention I freak out just thinking about driving in snow? Yeah, so glad I didn't venture out.

But the topic is about my theory and the snow. You see, I think we had record snowfall in Baytown, where I live. We had 4 inches of snow. My neighbor was able to build a snowman at a height of probably at least 5 feet (I'd post a picture of it if I could email it from my cell phone but, unfortunately, I don't have that capability...I can text it though) - part of which is still in his yard. Anyway, I got up Thursday morning and my yard was the only one in the neighborhood that didn't look like a winter wonderland. It was actually kind of funny. But that's where the theory comes in. You see, a man at work was explaining something about the heat and trees and snow on the ground where there are trees. He said that basically the snow in yards with trees melts faster than the yards without trees. I didn't really understand the particulars of how it worked but since I'm the only one with trees in their front yard, it made sense that mine would be the one with the fastest melting snow.

On the other hand, my theory was that God understands how much snow freaks me out and was just helping me out. You know, making it melt first and all.

At least that's my theory, and I'm sticking with it. :)