Synopsis:
A literary author kills his crime fiction scribe alter ego, only to have him come to life and menace his family.
Review:
The Dark Half is classic King and a book I’ve ready maybe 4 times now. It felt thin to me this time, probably because I am so familiar with the plot. I still love the way it talks about the process of writing–I don’t think anybody really does that better than King.
Synopsis:
Tina Fey’s memoir of her rise from nerdy little Philly girl to comedy superstar and member of the showbiz power elite.
Review:
Naturally, I opted for the audiobook version of Bossypants since Tina Fey was doing the reading herself. Yay! Bonus: it included the full version of the Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview sketch that she and Amy Poehler did for SNL. Unbonus: it does not include the worldbeatingly awesome rap that Amy Poehler did when Sarah Palin actually visited SNL (what Fey labels a “sneaker-upper”). I know Fey didn’t write it or perform in it but it would have put the audiobook into “best audiobook ever” territory if it had.
Fey manages to convey a winsome, underdog demeanor even when she’s describing her own successes, and I ended the book with a true admiration of her tenacity and intelligence. She’s more than just a wit, she’s got ambition, drive, and the ability to make the most of her opportunities.
I will offer one small criticism–surely Tina Fey, comedy genius extraordinaire, can come up with a better way to take down moms who are smug about breastfeeding than the phrase “Teat Nazi”? People have been hurling that invective ever since a group of moms started La Leche League 50 years ago, so (a) it’s not a new joke. And (b), the word Nazi really needs to be reserved for racially motivated genocide. Last I checked, even the most pompous sanctimommy out of Park Slope doesn’t want to kill any body, even if she thinks you’re a crap parent for not hitting your Mothering Magazine-approved checklist of crunch points. You can find a lot more awesome schtick on Trolls with Wooden Spoons.
Synopsis:
Subtitled “Identifying and Fixing the Ten Most Frequent Grammatical Errors.”
Review:
Is it just me, or is grammar trendy these days? The Big Ten of Grammar doesn’t have a sexy title but it does aim to up grammar’s profile by educating readers on the most common mistakes people make. You’ve got I/me, that vs. which, commas/semicolons, and the rest of the usual suspect’s (LOL). Plus there is a bonus appendix that offers even more grammar tutelage. I think that this is a great book for the casual writer, because it makes the rules really clear and easy to remember, even though it’s not as flashy as some other recent books.
Many thanks to Synergy Books for the review copy.
Synopsis:
When Jamie Bartlett accidentally turns her journal in instead of her homework, she becomes an overnight bestselling author and her life turns upside down.
Review:
How My Private, Personal Journal Became a Bestseller has a supercute, bubbly tone that I found exceptionally charming. Author Julia DeVillers absolutely nails her 14-year-old protagonist’s voice. Jamie is naive, exuberant, silly, bold, timid, smart, and goodhearted (despite several lapses in judgment). The plot moves quickly, though a bit predictable, which I think is more a genre issue than an author issue. DeVillers gives us just enough of Jamie’s teen superhero story to tantalize us without letting that story overshadow Jamie’s. The book won’t change anyone’s life, but not every book has to.
Synopsis:
When novelist Kendall Ames is dropped by her publisher and her husband, she faces a case of writer’s block so severe that her best friends–also novelists–decide to help her writer her next novel and let her take all the credit.
Review:
I’m a sucker for novels about writers, because they always get me off my butt and working on my own stuff. And of course I like good chick lit, so I was primed to enjoy The Accidental Bestseller.
The plot was a strange one. Basically, Kendall fails as a novelist so her friends help her write a book about a failed novelist whose friends help her write a book. The plot of the book within the book was never specified, thankfully sparing me from too much of a hall of mirrors effect. I wasn’t sure it would work as well as it did, but Wendy Wax pulled it off.
The Accidental Bestseller wears its influences well, from The Devil Wears Prada to Olivia Goldsmith, while retaining a charm uniquely its own. Wax packed a lot of enjoyable drama into her characters but avoided seeming too soap opera-ish. At times I wished it had pushed things a bit farther (a la Goldsmith), but by the time the ending rolled around I was more than satisfied. I hope that Wax is planning more stories with these characters, because I definitely would spend more time with them.
Synopsis:
While working on a novel in Tunisia, a writer encounters his own heart of darkness.
Review:
I had written a truly brilliant review of Patricia Highsmith’s The Tremor of Forgery, but it got eaten. Fie! The salient points were:
I should also add that at times, Highsmith is scathingly funny, though this will come as no surprise to those of you who are familiar with her work. My absolute favorite remains Edith’s Diary, but I’ll be recommending The Tremor of Forgery a lot.
- Pick up the nearest book. (I’m sure you must have one nearby.)
- Turn to page 123.
- What is the first sentence on the page?
- The last sentence on the page?
connect them together.(And no, you may not transcribe the entire page of the book–that&’s cheating!)
From The Tremor of Forgery by Patricia Highsmith:
“That is, if there’s some reason to hide it and there usually is if a man’s been murdered.”
“Murdered? Who said anything about that?” Carole paced up and down the length of the small apartment hallway. She could no more tell Jensen the truth than she could gouge out her own eyes. Then again, King Lear had always been her favorite Shakespeare play. “Ah, to play Cordelia again!”
“You never were very good, you know.” Jensen snapped his book shut. “And I’m sick to God of hearing about your thespian aspirations. You and I were never meant for anything other than the ordinary.”
A rage filled Carole, startling her with its ferocity. Jensen never took her seriously, not in ten years of marriage, five of which she spent in audition after audition, only ever “good enough,” never hired, never relieved from the pressure of the dream she’d carried since she was a little girl. And then, the babies started coming, and who cared about Carole’s dreams anymore? Not Jensen, the man whose face she used to see before her eyes when she closed them at night. Her mouth tasted of metal as she allowed herself to feel the full measure of her fury towards the sloppy, careless life he’d given to her. She would tell him the truth, and demand the respect that should have been hers from the moment he first said, “I love you.”
“I’m not joking. She said she came by to play with the babies, but you know her idea of playing is to light up a cigarette and turn on Dr. Phil. She started in on the house. Dirty baseboards. Cereal bowls still in the sink at ten in the morning. And all the while I started to see something I’d never seen before. And that’s how much she looks like you. So I put drain cleaner in her coffee. She keeled over right in front of me and her body is in the trunk of my car. I killed your mother and I’m not sorry. I’d kill you, too, if we didn’t need your paycheck.” Carole waited, breathless, even gleeful. “Do you believe me, darling?”
“Yes, sure,” Jensen said attentively, as if waiting for the rest.
Found this via It’s All About Books, and since movies are written by writers I think it works for a blog about reading. How many can you guess?
Here are the rules:
1. Pick 10 of your favorite movies.
2. Go to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess (if you know them all, please don’t guess every one).
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. No Googling or IMDb-ing. That’s cheating, and that’s no fun!
1. I found myself driving past convenience stores… that weren’t on the way home.–Raising Arizona, guessed by Christel!
2. Of course, I may bring a boyfriend home occasionally, but only occasionally, because I do think that one ought to go to the man’s room if one can. I mean, it doesn’t look so much as if one expected it, does it? — Cabaret, guessed by Ellen
3. On the page it looked nothing. The beginning simple, almost comic. Just a pulse – bassoons and basset horns – like a rusty squeezebox. Then suddenly – high above it – an oboe, a single note, hanging there unwavering, till a clarinet took over and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight! This was no composition by a performing monkey! This was a music I’d never heard. Filled with such longing, such unfulfillable longing, it had me trembling. It seemed to me that I was hearing the very voice of God. — Amadeus, guessed by Janet
4. I can’t forget what it’s done to you. I’ve been thinking of nothing else since it happened. It’s gone forever, that funny young, lost look I loved won’t ever come back. I killed that when I told you about ****. It’s gone. In a few hours, you’ve grown so much older. — Rebecca, guessed by Bybee
5. Isn’t it the first cardinal rule of perm maintenance that you are forbidded to wet your hair for at least 24 hours after getting a perm at the risk of deactivating the ammonium thioglycolate? — Legally Blonde, guessed by Janet
6. When I sit, you sit. When I kneel, you kneel. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! — The King & I, guessed by Sarah!
7. You’ll be out in a year and a half. I’ll get cozy with your parole officer. You touch her again, I’ll have you violated on a kiddie raper beef. You know what they do to kiddie rapers in Quentin, don’t ya? — LA Confidential, guessed by Sheila
8. That’s the way it crumbles… cookie-wise. — The Apartment, guessed by Christel!
9. But I know something about you / You went to Cranbrook – that’s a private school — 8 Mile, guessed by Bybee
10. My pearl necklace. I want you to give it to Susie…for her weddin’. Give her a real bridey wedding… with all the fixins. Our weddin’ day… and the day we die… are the great events… of life. — Imitation of Life, guessed by nobody 
Because I appreciate good writing in all media:
Merry Christmas, everyone! The Superfast Three are snuggled up in our apartment with my parents and my younger brother watching Fargo and waiting to get hungry for round 2 of the Irish ham we enjoyed last night.
I got a few books for Christmas this year, fewer than usual because I asked for clothes to accommodate my postpartum body. So the stack was small, but noteworthy:
From my dad: An Exaltation of Larks by James Lipton. It’s a compendium of the specific term to refer to more than two of just about anything. Should be fun to discover and a great source of inspiration for my writing.
My brother got me the first two books in Joe Abercrombie’s acclaimed new series: The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged, as well as One Skein, a gorgeous knitting book by Leigh Radford.
Lastly, some family friends got us the latest edition of the Dr. Spock baby book. It looks like a good resource, with complementary advice to my beloved Sears Baby Book. Plus, it’s featured prominently in a movie that Superfast Husband and I both love: Raising Arizona. Discovering our shared affection for HI McDonough was definitely a bonding moment for us.
We are active members of our church, but since we don’t own our building (we rent from the 7th Day Adventists), we sadly can’t go to a Christmas service with our community. We’ve tried other churches in New York City the few years that we’ve been here, but have been disappointed. So we don’t do church on Christmas, which is a little weird. Our church does a wonderful Advent and has a Christmas service on the Sunday before Christmas, but we missed all of those because of not wanting to bring the new baby out during cold and flu season. It’s been an oddly un-religious Christmas, but Jesus knows that we’re very thankful.
Hope all of you who celebrate Christmas have had a wonderful day, and I want to wish all my readers many blessings this holiday season. Thanks for making Reading is my Superpower such a fun pastime!
